Bound Through History
by OfMiceAndLice
Summary: Muggle-raised student Nicholas Bishop lost his mother at a young age in a mysterious accident. He gains the ability to read people like books, naturally, he gets invited to join Hogwarts and stumbles upon a large mystery connecting Wizarding schools all across the world. What did his mother's death have to do with any of it? Rated M for strong lang. and desc. of physical violence.
1. A Bishops Greatest Fear

**A/N:** This is the first shot I try at a real OC story. There will be a connection to the original characters, as well as a strong AU. This story will be told out of POV from three different people. The first three Chapters will be chapters, which will introduce the there protagonists, and show their backstory.

This is the very first Chapter, in which we will meet the main protagonist. I hope you enjoy and please review. I know that most people don't like OC stories, but they are fun to write for the author, so any form of feedback would be greatly appreciated and would naturally motivate one to write more... But now that you successfully skimmed the AN and probably already lost interest in this story, I hope you enjoy...

**_AU note:_****_ This story is AU so there will be multiple changes including some people getting sorted into different houses or things like that._**

**_And most importantly: There will be no form of bashing in this story._**

**_I will try to keep this story as realistic as possible! I will not make someone completely over-powered or will have Harry kill Voldemort without a drop of sweat. _**

**_There will be the main focus on the people in the story, they are the most important part of the Universe and I will try to make their interactions as pleasant and realistic as possible. There will be romance and pairings, though I am not sure of when I am going to start implementing them. Most likely somewhere around the third/fourth year._**

_I hope you will continue to enjoy the story and please do leave a review. It motivates greatly to continue writing when you get some form of assurance that people actually read what you write._

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

_A Bishops Greatest Fear_

London, July 21, 1991,

The heat was unbearable. The open windows didn't help much either. Even the rare gusts of wind, that made their way into the small bedroom, where only temporary relief. It had to be the hottest day of the year, which seemingly was about every second day a week over the course of the last month.

The small bedroom consisted of a one person bed, a desk and a wardrobe. The desk was a mess, papers and books spread across it. If you were to search for something specific, you wouldn't be able to find it. A grey coat was hanging on a small chair right in front of the desk, it had a small logo of a local private school on it, somewhere in London.

The Wardrobe was filled with rather casual clothes, with the exception of one segment reserved for a school uniform, consisting of another grey jacket, a white shirt and black trousers with black Oxford shoes, as well as a sports uniform in similar colours.

On the small bed, which was in a rather unconventional colour scheme, representing the colour of a local football team, was laying a young boy, at eleven years of age.

Nicholas Bishop was by no means a popular kid in school. His only friend, a guy called Michael Watford, moved away when he was younger. In a public school, this wouldn't have been a problem, but in the more sophisticated environment of his private school, where there was social pressure by the wealth and renown of their respective families, the pupil created their own little groups. These groups where basically impregnable and the people who didn't manage to find suitable company where quickly outcasted and had to manage their own.

Nicholas was one of these people. And even though he was socially rather intelligent, something he was very proud of, he didn't manage in the shark tank that was his private schools' social environment.

The Bishops weren't the wealthiest people, they just about managed to get through. But Nicholas mother wished to send him to a private school so he could get the best possible education a child could wish for.

Only a year after he entered the school his mother died. He never got to know the real circumstances of her death, he always got one of two answers depending on whom he asked. If he asked his father he would get all quiet and say that she was in an accident, after that he would retreat to his bedroom and that would be it for the rest of the evening. If he asked his aunt she would get angry and yell at him for being a 'nosey prick' and that he should keep out of 'other peoples business'.

Save to say this was a difficult part of his childhood. It forced him to get rather mature for his age. He was more silent and reserved after his mother was gone. Not that he didn't completely act like a normal child after it, but, instead of playing with puppets or toys, started reading and writing a lot. He started to read everything. It started with simple children's books. Then he went on reading short stories and as he turned ten he had finished nearly every book in the house. He was a regular in the local library and book stores. He loved reading fiction and fantasy novels, especially if the story had something to do with magic.

He was fascinated with the concept of magic. His favourite book was written by Newt Scamander, he wrote a book called 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them'. It was a fictional book with different kinds of… fantastic beasts in it. But the most interesting part about the book was how it was written. It was almost like those things actually existed. Written as if the author had faced each and every one of these creatures. He never found another book from that author, and as he asked in the library, they said that they've never heard of an author called Scamander.

Nicholas loved that book. Though he got it from the same man that brought terrible news to him and his father about the accident his mother had. The strange old man with half-moon spectacles and long grey beard gave it to him and said that this was once a book of his mother and that it was one of the most valuable possessions she owned.

As Nicholas asked the man how he got the book and what had happened to his mother, the man, who called himself Albus Dumbledore, only said that he would get the answers to those questions 'in due time'. Then he left them, to deal with the bad taste in their mouths and sad thoughts on their minds.

The book looked old and was written per hand. It mentioned on multiple occasions, in footnotes, a place called 'Hogwarts' and how it was a school that taught magic and sorcery. He thought that it maybe was a fictional school for witches and wizards that the author imagined making the story seem more consistent, but again he got the feeling that there was something more to all of this.

He even searched the local library and book stores to even just the remotest mention of this mysterious school. Not even in a history book, which was focused on the Salem witch trials and the slaughter of 'witches and wizards' in Europe in connection to Herbology and medicine in the middle ages, mentioned even the possibility that there was something like a school for witches or wizards.

Nicholas couldn't even count the amount times he read that book about magical creatures. Every time he found something new and interesting about the animals and beasts. The fact that the book looked like it was written per hand about a hundred years ago made it so much more interesting, it could have been the only version of it, or maybe the original handed down through the family until it somehow got into the hands of his mother. Sadly he couldn't confirm nor deny his speculations, as the man with the half moon spectacles never returned. He had so many questions, so many ideas, theories and speculations. He wanted to know what happened to his mother. She was his and his fathers' sun in the morning. Always happy and comforting. She could read peoples emotions from their eyes, their wishes from their lips and thoughts from their forehead. She was a remarkable person. Kind, caring and cautious, always prepared to say the right thing at the right time, to listen when she had to and to talk when she needed to talk. She always put him in front of her own desires, made sure that he was happy.

The day that his mother died, was a dark day. The sky clouded. It started to rain. His entire world was grey. Dead. His heart ached before he even knew what was wrong. That morning was terrible, he never till that day felt emotions like that. Everything was always happy and smiling. Now the world went dark as if the planet was in deep grief.

From that day onward, Nicholas suddenly was capable of feeling other peoples emotions. He could glance at his father's eyes, and feel the deep underlying pain in his heart. He could see the people at school, their emotions and feelings. Just a glance in their eyes, and he was diving into a pool filled with emotion and thoughts. He couldn't read their thoughts, only their emotions. Though only the strong ones like joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger and anticipation, he was still able to feel into their emotions. It was almost like… Magic. He decided to keep his ability to himself. He didn't need to be more alienated by his peers, and claiming that he could read their mind would certainly not help.

The youngest Bishop woke up through the bird song that was blown in through the open window, which was constantly open due to the heat wave that took place in England this summer.

The sun rays were directly thrown into his face. He slowly got up, scanning the room as he usually did. He fixated himself in the mirror which was loosely hanging on the door of his wardrobe. In the mirror, he could see an average finally eleven-year-old boy staring back at him. His eyes were his most noticeable feature. A remarkable glint was in them. They were rather mature. Not old. But mature. Not the eyes you would expect an eleven-year-old boy to possess. He had to live with his problems. Being an outcast for most of his life and losing his mother at a young age changes someone. Most people would have become introverted enough to shut themselves away from the rest of the world. Would have become broken. He on the other hand always tried to get to know people. He tried to thrive on his shortcomings and problems.

He wanted friends. Desperately. He would be willing to go through a lot if in return he would finally find someone, just one singular person, whom he could trust.

He mastered himself in the mirror. He had short straight brown hair with one side combed over. An amused glint shoot across his inviting green eyes. A gift from his mother. Between them was the root of a pointy round nose which ended over a thin-lipped mouth which often held a slight smirk. Not a condescending smirk like a sneer, but an inviting and friendly one.

The eleven-year-old kid in the mirror in front of him stood at 5ft 1' (155 cm), which he was very proud of. He was a good 2 inch taller than most people his age. Looking further down from his face, he could see the rest of his physique. He wasn't obese nor was he lanky. He was average. In every sense of the word.

He quickly garbed a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and put them on, after he took a shower and brushed his teeth. His father had to work today. Like every other day, his father was gone nearly the entire time until seven pm. Then dinner had to be ready and served, so he could eat when he got home. After that, he would be sitting down in the living room, watching the news or a football match, he would always mumble things into his beard for days if his team lost, and then would go to bed just to wake up at seven am to get ready and head for work again.

They would always talk over dinner, but in reality, they basically didn't have really any contact with each other. Either the younger Bishop would be at school or Bishop senior would be working.

While his father was at work, Nicholas grabbed the nearest book and started reading. Then at about six he would get up and start preparing to cook. It was something he likes doing. It was something he and his mum used to do. She taught him how to make his favourite food and then sat down and watched him make them. His father, on the other hand, taught him a dry sense of humour and trained him in the art of having a discussion. He loved both of his parents deeply but, since his mother was gone, he felt more distant to his father. A feeling which was reciprocated by him.

He didn't need his ability to tell that his father had a distant and broken spirit. He put on his mask and pretended that everything was all right but Nicholas knew different. He felt like his father was hiding something from him. Something concerning his mother. The only topic he still showed genuine emotion for once it came up.

All of this made him lose trust in him.

This frustrated Nicholas greatly. He could trust no one. He felt like there was a big secret, that everyone kept from him. Something that people where talking about once he turned his back. The same people who would bring bad news and write a book about how a Dragon and a Niffler share an affection for gold. The same people who went to a school called Pigpimple or Hogwarts or whatever... for the things other people write books about, the things other people dream about possessing. Magic. It, of course, sounded ridiculous, he was no person to believe in strange theories or wore a tinfoil hat. But this was something different. Deep within him, he could feel that there was more to this Book, to the man with the half-moon spectacles and long grey beard, to the accident his mother had and to his ability to read peoples emotions just by looking them into their eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud flapping noise at the window of his room. Nicholas' head shot around, ready to defend himself and his possessions in a bloody fight for life and death, to find a grey owl sitting on his desk ruffling its feathers. A large frown grew on his face, his ears where red, filled with blood, as he could only hear the loud thumping of his accelerated heartbeat. Besides the obvious obscurity of an owl to be sitting in his room on his desk in brought daylight, it carried a large letter with a red wax seal on it in its beak.

Hesitantly walks Nicholas up to the owl and takes the letter out of its beak.

The envelope was clearly addressed to him. To clearly. It read the following:

_Nicholas Jeremy Bishop_

_Great Britain, England, London, Chelsea, King's Rd no 13, fourth level right, last room left._

After the shock passed through him, it took a few seconds to gain composure, but his thirst for knowledge overpowered all his fear and got him on task. He searched the envelope for a sign of the person who sends the letter. It only took all about three seconds to find an answer.

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress of the __**Hogwarts**__ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry _

A cold sensation ran down his back like a bucket of ice water. The cogs in his brain turning faster than they ever had, as they were working on the information that was just acquired.

Flipping the envelope around cracking open the ancient looking wax seal, on which there was a shield separated into four pieces: a lion, a snake, a badger and a raven. He unfolded the letter and started reading.

_**Hogwarts **__**School**_

_of __**Witchcraft **__and __**Wizardry**_

_Headmaster: __**Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**_

_(Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards) _

_Dear Mr Nicholas Jeremy Bishop,_

_ We are pleased to announce that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students will be required to report to the Chamber of Reception upon arrival. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_ Term begins on __**September 1**__,_

_We await your owl by no later than __**31, July**__._

_Yours sincerely,_

_ Minerva McGonagall_

_ Deputy Headmistress. _

Starring at the piece of paper in his hand, he read and re-read the letter in his hand about fifty times.

Looking into the envelope he found a list of items attached with a request them to buy these items before the first of September, so he could attend the school prepared and ready for his first term.

As he was going through the letter for the fifty-second time there was suddenly a loud knock on the front door of his apartment.

Keeping the letter clutched in his hand he shot up and ran towards the door to check who knocked.

Before he even reached the door though, the handle turned on its own and the key unlocked the door as if someone was turning it.

The door gently swung open and there stood no one else, but a tall, old man with half-moon spectacles and a long silver-grey beard, smiling as he saw the young boy standing before him.

Mustering the child focusing on the hand, in which he held the letter, his smile intensified, and looking him straight into his green eyes with an amused sparkle shooting across his own elderly ones. "Ah, I take it you read the letter already Mr Bishop?" without waiting for a response, he took a step forward looking around the room, while he said "Good, come on now, get ready, we have a lot to buy before you are ready to start your term at your new school.".

With a long strange looking stick, he tapped on the small desk, where a small note appeared. Smiling Dumbledore turned back to the still rooted eleven-year-old boy, with an expecting glare.


	2. A Very Peculiar Wand

_**A/N: **This is the second chapter of my OC story. I hope you enjoyed the story so far. In this chapter, we will be introduced to the second main character. As said before there will be three overall._

**_AU note:_****_ Penny Haywood will be born around the same time as Nicholas Bishop or Harry Potter, meaning that she will go to school at the same time as them._**

_I hope you will continue to enjoy the story and please do leave a review. It motivates greatly to continue writing when you get some form of assurance that people actually read what you write._

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_

_A Very Peculiar Wand._

London, July 23, 1991,

Penny Haywood and her younger sister Beatrice were currently sitting in the living room of their parent's London flat. Penny was focused on a book concerning her favourite subject. Potions, reading about the effects of a Bezoar and the traits of different metals used on cauldrons.

She had finally gotten her Hogwarts acceptance letter, a few weeks back on her birthday, and practically dragged her mother, a Muggle-born witch in her early thirties, to the Diagon Alley, to buy all the things she needed for her upcoming first term.

They had just spent the Holidays in the Countryside, where her muggle friend Scarlett lived. She liked spending time with her, just as much as she enjoyed spending time with her little sister. Though now that she was accepted to Hogwarts, she was going the see her sister much lesser then she had been used to now.

This, of course, made her quite sad, though she swore herself, and her sister, that she would write her a letter every week or so.

Penny was already looking forward to meeting new friends within the century-old halls of the magical school. She had never a real problem meeting new people. She was rather outgoing. Not to an annoying degree, to a pleasant one. On her old muggle elementary school, which she had visited before, she was among the most popular students. But in contrast to her peers in popularity, she was friendly to everyone. No matter how popular, old or strange the person was she talked to. She had always been nice to them. Not that she herself would say it like that. She always got strange looks from the other kids, asking her why she was hanging out with the 'wired' kids instead of them.

Penny didn't like that very much. In fact, she didn't like it so much, that she and another rather popular girl, a brown-haired girl called Louisiana, got into quite a large fight, in which Penny defended her friends while calling the other girl out for being 'mean and insufferable'.

This made Penny even more popular among the other children in school, and soon she was friends with everyone.

London, July 21, 1991,

During Penny's visit in the Diagon Alley with her sister Beatrice and her mother, to buy the items on the 'required!' list, which was attached to the letter McGonagall sent her, she meets a few students already. One, in particular, stayed on her mind though. A young, but a rather tall wizard with brown hair and piercing green eyes. Though while his appearance alone wasn't something, a person would easily forget, his company was the rather salient thing about him.

No one lesser than Professor Albus Dumbledore himself escorted the young boy around the busy shopping street and went with him into the different shops buying his school supply.

Penny couldn't help herself and dragged her mother and sister along with her to introduce herself to her new headmaster and the mysterious boy he accompanied.

She followed them into the large and somewhat dark shop with the name _'OLIVANDERS: MAKERS of FINEST WANDS since 382 B.C.'_

* * *

After his original scepticism and blank refusal of following the old man to the Diagon Alley, Nicholas quickly changed his mind upon hearing what his new headmaster had to say. Dumbledore talked with him about his mother. He told him that she was not only a Witch, but he also revealed that she had fought alongside him and few other wizarding families against a Dark Lord, whom the Headmaster called Voldemort.

Awaking Nicholas' thirst for knowledge, he asked the headmaster for evidence.

With a smile, Dumbledore produced a wand and a creature Nicholas recognized from his Book. The same one Dumbledore gave him a few years ago.

His eyes lightened up with interest as he exclaimed "A Bowtruckle?" examining the small plant-like creature from head to toe "So.. they really exist?" mumbling the rhetorical question to himself. Slowly extending his finger towards the creature. "Yes Mr Bishop, they really do exist" answered the headmaster with a kind tone in his voice, still making the young Bishop cringe away from the creature as he remembered the Headmasters presence. His eyes quickly shot up to the blue eyes of the old man in front of him.

The half-moon spectacles had slid down directly onto his nose tip while examining the youngest bishop and new student sitting directly before him. As he met the eyes of the boy, he felt a sudden wave flowing against his mental defences.

The headmaster was taken by surprise, as he didn't expect to feel such a sensation in the presence of an untaught wizard in the art of Legilimency or Occlumency. Quickly mastering the boy and fixing him with an intense stare while he went through the mind of the young Bishop.

While not knowing that the headmaster was capable of 'reading his mind', he only noticed that the old man had suddenly fixated him with a stare that made the young man's blood freeze and his head hurt. The room got darker and colder. The ancient wizard suddenly had a very dangerous aura around him, he felt immensely uncomfortable and small. Nicholas knew that this was a wizard, he wouldn't want to get on the bad side of.

Just as quick as all this came it vanished again, and the headmaster began to kindly smile again.

Dumbledore had learned what he needed to learn. The young wizard before him suddenly shone in a completely different light in his eyes. He got a natural knack for the mental arts. A gift he probably got from his mother, along with her remarkable green eyes. The headmaster remembered the young woman quite clearly.

She and Lily Evans were close friends, both of them possessed a natural kindness and enjoyed the highest popularity among their peers. Though while Lily was a natural in Potions and a prodigy in Charms, Amelia Nye was a just as remarkable student. She and Lily had constantly the same grades in Charms, and while Lily was a far better potion brewer, Amelia outclassed her peers, including Lily, in Transfiguration.

He missed the two kind pupils at Hogwarts. It wasn't the same without them. He even remembered them booth getting a similar amount of O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. Remarkable witches indeed.

Nicholas examined the long beautiful stick in his hands quite carefully. Dumbledore claimed that this elegant piece of wood was his mother's old wand. He explained that he had found it after she went missing and took the liberty of keeping it, so it wouldn't be broken or resold by a different wandmaker, as it often enough happened during the last wizarding war.

Even after Nicholas pressed for a solid fifteen minutes for Dumbledore to reveal what happened to his mother, the Headmaster still denied his pleas and told him that he would get the answer in due time. Same as last time, a few years ago, as he asked the same question.

Seeing that the old man wouldn't budge so easily. Nicholas dropped the subject and asked him where exactly this _Diagon Alley_ was, which he talked about.

Dumbledore gently guided the young Bishop out of his apartment and only said with the faintest smirk on his lips "I will show you", the same words he used on this day twenty years ago, to a red-headed eleven-year-old witch, who would turn out to become the mother of the green-eyed boy beside him.

* * *

As he and the Headmaster entered the mysterious looking shop, the first thing Nicholas noticed where the large shelves filled with slim but long boxes.

His gaze roamed around the shop, feeling a little uneasy. As soon as he had entered the room, he felt as if he was shut off from the rest of the world, losing track of time and place. The only light sources where few candles that were placed upon some of the shelves and the small chandelier which was hanging directly above him. A little lamp, which was placed on the large table in the middle of the room, shone upon a book filled with nearly unreadable writing. Nicholas could only decipher some of the words. There was something about the hair of a unicorn and wood of an elder tree.

There was a loud ring behind him and he turned to see a group of three women enter the shop.

The first one was about as old as he himself. She had blue eyes, pale white skin and long golden blonde hair with two thick braids over her shoulders, and a braid on her left side that formed a ponytail, giving her a half up.

He met her eyes directly and instantly could feel a mixture of joy and anticipation. But there was something more. A deep inner warmth that he couldn't place into any form of emotion, not one was usually picking up when he read people. An interesting mixture. A form of trust and surprise, neither one really fitted to this particular emotion, but they were there. At the same time. A form of… maybe interest, no… _curiosity_! That was it.

Next to the beautiful blond was a younger girl. She was the near carbon copy of her older self. The only noticeable difference besides the age was her hairstyle, which was fitted into a bob with a side fringe. Nicholas suspected that she was the first girls younger sister. She was probably a few years younger than he himself.

Lastly there was the tallest witch and presumably mother of the other two. She had, just like her daughters, blond hair, but hers was bound into a simple ponytail and fell straight down her back.

She had a kind expression on her face. A nearly motherly look, that would give anyone a deep warmth and sense of joy and trust. A combination of emotions you would only find in the arms of your parents. Simply put. Love. Motherly love. Something Nicholas had been missing for many years, the reason why he was so reserved and protective of his feelings and trust.

"Ah, Mrs and Miss Haywood" beamed the warm voice of the headmaster beside him. "Albus," said Mrs Haywood "good to see you again, my daughter saw you and your young companion..." while saying that she gave Nicholas a long inquisitive stare, before continuing "...and wanted to introduce herself before the start of the semester. You can expect that she will be giving your potions master a run for his money" she babbled on warmly, though the last statement sounded like a challenge. Dumbledore only smiled and again with warmth in his voice joked "Well, I do hope she does come after her mother in more than just potions." Mrs Haywood laughed "Hm… Potions never was my strong suit. I always loved Herbology. That was the only subject I was better at then Evans or Nye."

Nicholas had rarely heard his mothers family name. He only knew it, because every time his mother and his father got into a fight, which to be fair was quite rare, he used to yell her full name instead of using her first name.

Before Dumbledore could answer, they heard a cough from the other side of the room. A polite cough, one you would use to try and gain someone's attention. They turned to see who tried to make himself know.

Nicholas saw a strange looking old man with wild white hair and a brown coat standing in the corner of the room. He had intense blue eyes, and had he not seen the ones on the blond girl next to him, he would have claimed, that they were the most remarkable blue eyes he had seen until then.

The young Haywoods' girl's eyes put even the glinting blue eyes of his Headmaster to shame, an interesting quality.

"There are rarely ever so many people in my shop at once." said the old strange man. Nicholas presumed that the man before of him had to be the wand maker Professor Dumbledore told him about.

"Well, Garrick, school starts soon, so all the new wands get bought and the broken ones get replaced" exclaimed a cheerful Dumbledore. "I guess so..." acknowledged the shop owner nonchalantly, his glance hovering over Dumbledore only for a short amount of time before it shot to Nicholas and the Haywood girl.

"Ah, Mr Bishop and Miss Haywood." beamed the old wand maker "Its your time then I guess" he muttered, before turning on his heels and walking into the space between two shelves disappearing from view, only to reappear on a ladder on a completely different side of the shop and pulling out a small grey box with Iliac embellishments at the corner of the cap. He again disappeared into the shelves and appeared directly behind them, walking out from behind a completely new shelve, holding two boxes. Walking through the group of five people, he placed the two boxes gently on the table in the centre of the room.

He first opened the grey box with the lilac patterns.

Inside the grey box was a beautiful dark brown wand. Though while looking rather simple, it was very slick and had a decorated handle, with complex flower patterns.

He handed the Wand to the Haywood girl while muttering more to himself than her "Dogwood, elven and three-quarter inch, Phoenix feather core and rather sturdy." The blond hesitated, looking at the old wizard with a questioning gaze.

"Just wave it Penny" encouraged the oldest Haywood her daughter and so Penny did. She waved the wand, and the small lamp on the table burst into pieces.

Mr Olivander quickly stepped forward grabbing the wand from Penny again while muttering again "Oh, okay that's quite the clear no!" He went back to the table and placed the wand back into its box and opened the other one right beside it.

The next box was a completely black box, it looked rather new, and held an again rather simple looking wand. "Hazel, twelve and a quarter inch, Dragon heartstring and a bit springy" uttered the old wand maker while holding the stick towards Nicholas with an expectant glare.

Nicholas took a deep breath and took the wand into his own hands. He could feel the cold wood of the wand and soft engravings on the grip. Something deep inside him yelled _'This won't work. What will they do if nothing happens? what will they think if they realize that you are no wizard?. They will be disappointed that you've wasted their time and you will be thrown back into your normal life! You will be no one again! You will have nothing special! You will be nothing special! You will never know what happened to your mother!...'_

He took a deep breath again and pushed everything and every voice out of his mind. Then he started to wave the wand into the direction of one of the shelves.

First, nothing happened, he started to fear that Dumbledore might have made a mistake, but then suddenly, about a dozen boxes shot out of the shelve and flew onto the floor.

He took a deep breath and relaxed again, they hadn't made a mistake. But then realisation set in and he noticed what he had done.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to throw the boxes on the ground." Olivander just made a step forward and took the wand again from his hands before he insisted "Oh, no problem Mr Bishop, things like that happen when the perfect wand has to be found. No harm done." after that, he waved with the wand in his hand and summoned the boxes that had fallen onto the ground back into their respective shelves.

"Now let me see..." he muttered, again more to himself then to the wizards in his shop, before trailing off while vanishing behind a nearby shelve.

A solid five minutes after he reappeared from the back of the store with four new boxes. He placed them down next to other ones he brought before. "Now..." the wand maker began "… Miss Haywood..." he grabbed the furthest one to the right "… this one..." he took the wand out of the emerald green box, a light wooded and elegant looking wand "… might be the right one for you." Olivander turned around and handed her the elegant wand with a pendant smile.

Penny mustered the elegant looking light wand while the wand maker started to explain the combination of wand craftsmanship "Silver Lime wood, thirteen and a half inch, Unicorn hair core and very whippy." Penny looked inquisitively on the fine work of the handle.

Nicholas, who had been paying just as much attention to the wand in Penny's had as she herself, suddenly heard a voice in his head saying 'that wand won't fit! It's not made for her! There is another!' over and over again, getting louder and louder. Just as she was about to wave the wand, Nicholas was forced by willpower beyond his own to yell it out loud.

Penny stopped and looked over to the brown haired boy. His before so sagely green shimmering eyes were now tinted grey.

"Well, Mr Bishop..." Olivander said while looking just as perplexed at the young Englishman as the rest of the Haywoods "… which wand would you give Miss Haywood?" before gently removing the elegant wand from her hands.

Nicholas gaze shot across the room, to a dusty brown box across the room.

'Yes!' he heard a different voice call out. 'That one is made for her' voices in his head grew louder. Nicholas started to walk across the room, while muttering to himself "that one" and took a few steps up the ladder next to the shelve. He grabbed the old dusty box and read the ingredients of the wand. "English Oak, elven and three-quarter inch, Unicorn hair core and quite sturdy" he whispered to himself before blowing the dust of the soft velvet cover of the box.

The old wand maker viewed what was happening with great interest. Something like that has never happened before, it looked like the wands were speaking to the young boy. No, not the wands, the magic within them.

The youngest Bishop returned with the box and placed it gently on the table, opening it and grabbing the English oak wand out of its box. It was a beautiful wand. It had a simple round grip which got thinner from the bottom up. Just above the grip, the wood turned elegantly half around itself, as if it was made out of metal, and then continued on with fine engraved leave patterns, which looked like they where growing from the handle upwards, like ivy, engulfing nearly the entire lower part of the wand, besides the grip, ending only inches before the tip of the English Oak wand. The tip of the wand was round like every normal wand.

The old wand maker was amazed. This wand was a few centuries old, he couldn't remember crafting such a remarkable piece of wood. A beautiful piece of wand work.

Penny examined the beautiful work craftsmanship the wand displayed. This put the elegant Silver Lime wand to shame. She extended her arm to take the wand into her own hands.

The first thing she noticed was that the wand was warm. It was a pleasant warmth. The grip snuggled perfectly into her hand. Something was telling her that this wasn't just a normal wand.

She waved the tip just slightly and suddenly, she was engulfed with the pleasant warmth of the piece of wood, golden sparks shot out of the tip of the unique looking wand.

Penny didn't even notice the glances of the other Haywoods on her. Nor did she notice that the headmaster was staring at her intently.

Dumbledore mustered the girl with an inquisitive glint in his eyes, before looking over to the Bishop boy, who was staring at the Haywood girl in awe. Lastly, he looked up at the wandmaker himself, who was taking in the experience with a genuine interest.

He had never seen a wand speak to someone before. Or at least not so obvious.

Olivander's glance shot to the bishop boy.

He remembered the wand he sold his mother on this day twenty years ago just as clearly as the sells he made just yesterday.

He could remember every single wand he created and every single wand he sold.

Mrs Nye's wand back then was a twelve and a half inch Holly wand with a unicorn hair core and just as the wand in Miss Haywood's hand, it was quite sturdy.

The wandmaker turned to the table and looked at the other three wands he brought and opened the box of a Hornbeam wand. He garbed it out of its box and turned towards the young Bishop.

"Now, Mr Bishop, try this wand, it's Hornbeam wood, ten and three-quarter inches with a dragon heartstring core and is rather whippy." he extended his arm and held out the piece of wood for the young Bishop the take.

Nicholas shook himself from his trance, while he was staring at Penny during her bonding with her new wand, he lost himself in thoughts.

He got nudged slightly by the headmaster slightly behind him as he didn't respond to the wandmaker. Quickly noticing the wand directly before him, he grabbed onto it.

A cold wave shot through his arm, and a hundred voices in his head yelled loudly 'NO!' he let go of the grip instantly, shocked by the running sensation of cold.

'That wand won't fit! It's not made for him! There is another!' The young Bishop only shook his head.

The headmaster frowned slightly, he had never seen such a strong reaction to the wrong wand before.

The wandmaker smiled brightly, this only confirmed his suspicions. The boy could hear the magic in the wands. "Which one is the one for you Mr Bishop?" asked the smiling old man.

For the second time, the young bishop looked around the shop looking for the right box. His gaze flew over the shelves, until, after minutes of searching, his gaze locked onto a dark blue box at the top of one of the shelves in the very back of the store.

The youngest Bishop set of the retrieve the slim box.

Penny fixed the brown haired boy with an attentive glare. She was immensely interested in that ability of his. She wanted to know more about it.

She saw how he climbed up a ladder in the back of the store. His gaze fixated on a dark blue box. It looked like it was clothed in velvet like the one he got her, there was just as much dust on that box as there had been on the one that was now laying before her on the table.

She expected the wand to be probably just as old as hers, judging by the dust alone.

Her mother stepped up and placed ten galleons on the table next to Olivander before saying her goodbyes to booth the wand maker and the headmaster.

She tried to grab Penny to pull her outside while whispering "come, Penny, we have more things to get before we have to return home."

Penny just shook her head and muttered that she would like to stay a bit longer, to see what kind of wand Nicholas got. "… I also haven't thanked him for finding the right wand for me yet!" she finished her argument.

The mother just sighed and uttered that she would be waiting outside for her to finish, then turned to leave the wandmakers shop with her youngest daughter in tow.

The young Bishop returned with the blue box in his hands. He, again, placed it gently upon the table among its comrades, before taking the wand out of its etui.

The young Englishman read the engraved description of the wands contents out loud. "Cedarwood, thirteen and a quarter inches, White River Monster Spine Core..." the young wizard looked up as he heard the surprised gasp from the young Haywood girl.

She didn't know much about wand lore herself, but she knew one thing. Olivander only used three cores. Phoenix Feather, Unicorn Hair and Dragon Heartstrings. White River Monster Spine was no core the old Olivander used. His family had used Kelpie Hair before they started to use these three core components.

"… and rigid flexibility" Nicholas ended his reading. He noticed the wandmakers thought full gaze, which was fixated on the wand alone. Something in him told him to take the wand and use it. To wave it and try it out no matter what the wand maker though.

The voices in his head sang in heavenly harmony 'YES! That wand will fit! It's made for him! There is no other!' So Nicholas raised the wand and snapped with his wrist. Instantly he felt a rush of warmth throughout his body. The wand looked just as unique as the one Penny wielded.

The grip of the Cedarwood wand was entwined with a detailed wooden version of a Hungarian Horntail. Nicholas knew this dragon, as it was described in the book he got from Dumbledore. The head of the Dragon was directly over the end of the beautiful grip and looked straight upwards. He had his mouth open and the staff came out of its mouth. Just like Penny's wand, just over the mouth, the wand made half a turn, like a Fusilli pasta before expanding irregularly upwards like a flame shot out of the mouth of a dragon should only to return to the normal circular form and width about halfway till the tip of the wand. On the bottom of the wand was the tip of the dragons tail which curled itself a spiral to the end of the wand.

Upon hearing the core of the wand, the old wand maker knew by whose hand the wand was made. Thiago Quintana. An American wizard who created wands during the early eighteenth century.

His wands were known to possess a unique appearance and the spells cast with cores he used were as forceful as they were elegant. The wandmaker had forgotten about the old wand. A relic of the first wizarding war. He couldn't even remember, how he came into possession of it.

The slight frown on his face disappeared though as he noticed how the magic of the wand and the magic of the young wizard connected. For the second time this day, he was able to experience a very unique bonding.

As the magic settled around the young boy Mr Olivander cleared his throat to gain booth the young wizards' attention.

"Well Mr Bishop, I have to say. In my very long life, this must have probably been the most exciting and interesting day I had the pleasure to witness." the old wand maker smiled slightly "… and I do have to say, I rather didn't expect such extreme results. Though based upon the wood of the wands you hold in your hands..." he pointed at the two unique works of true craftsmanship, "… I can see, that you booth are people one can trust." fixing Nicholas with his old blue eyes "Mr Bishop, My father always used to say, 'you will never fool the cedar carrier,' I would go further than my father, however, in saying that I have never yet met the owner of a cedar-wand whom I would care to cross, especially if harm is done to those of whom they are fond. The witch or wizard who is well-matched with cedar carries the potential to be a frightening adversary, which often comes as a shock to those who have thoughtlessly challenged them." Olivander smiled again. After a short second, he fixed his glare upon Penny and looked down on her wand "and while I am neither sure how this wand came into my possession, as I am unsure of the reason that one..." he pointed at Nicholas wand "… came into my shop. I can say one thing for certain, Miss Haywood. A wand made out of English oak is A wand for good times and bad, this is a friend as loyal as the wizard who deserves it. Wands of English oak demand partners of strength, courage and fidelity. Even the great Merlin himself wielded a wand made out of English oak. At least that is what I have heard, and there is no real proof to this statement." He suddenly went silent and fixated the wand with an intense glare, before continuing "should this have been the case though Miss Haywood, there is no reason not to believe that the wand of such a great magician and sorcerer wouldn't still be around..." he trailed off again. Still completely focused on Penny's wand. "… I beg of you Miss Haywood, take great care of your wand and so should you Mr Bishop. This is the Wizarding world, after all, stranger things have happened." Mr Olivander finished, his glare never left the oak wand in the hands of the young Haywood.

"There is no need for money Mr Bishop, Miss Haywood. This encounter was payment enough for me."

The wandmaker took the Galleons that Mrs Haywood placed on the counter for her daughters' wand and pressed it into her hands. "Please Miss Haywood… I can't say this enough. Please take good care of this wand, no matter the costs!"

As sudden as he appeared at the beginning of their encounter, he was gone again. Gone into the confusing depths of his shop.

Dumbledore escorted his two students out of the poorly lit wand shop and onto the busy streets of the Diagon Alley. The two young wizards were stunned into silence.

The headmaster excused himself and returned to the wand shop, after asking the young Bishop boy to stay and wait for him to return.

The Haywoods said their farewell to the young man and turned to leave. Only then, Nicholas noticed, that he hadn't been able to talk to the older of the two sisters. During their farewell, she gave him a brilliant smile and a tight hug, as thanks for finding her wand. She then grabbed her younger sister, 'Bea' she called her, and with her mother in tow, they walked off to the potions supply shop.

Though before she was gone, she turned around one last time and called out into his direction, "See you at platform nine and three quarters..." Then she was gone and he was alone waiting for his headmaster to return, so he could get the rest of his supplies.

* * *

_**A/N: **__So now that you read my second chapter, please do leave a review, as said, in the beginning, it motivates greatly If you get feedback._

**I read a lot about wand lore to make wands fitting for the characters, If you were to check on Pottermore and The Harry Potter Wiki on the traits of the wands of the two people, you would find a fitting description of their planned personality for this story. **

**If you do this here are the two wands again: **

**PH: English Oak Wood; 11 3/4 inch; Unicorn Tail Hair Core; Sturdy flexibility**

**NB: Cedar Wood; 13 1/4 inch; White River Monster Spine Core; rigid flexibility**


	3. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

_**A/N: **_**_Here we have the third chapter, took me a while to write, as I had to redo and rewrite it probably three or four times. Hope you enjoy, I will try to post a chapter every_**** week****_ or so, no promises though._**

**_You'll see that this chapter deals with the introduction of the third main character, as well as our first meeting with Malfoy and Potter. There are quite a few OC's in this story to thicken out the lack of characters from other houses._**

**_Lastly: not to worry. I will only partially cover the first three years, as I myself look more forward to the later four. But It is important to establish the characters through time. I have many great Ideas for our (silver-) trio and the future of the characters. _**

**Hope you** **enjoy**.

* * *

_**Chapter Three**_

_Platform Nine and Three-Quarters_

_London, September 1, 1991,_

A young Irish boy with scruffy dark brown hair pushed a trolley loaded with luggage across the Muggle filled platforms of _Kings Cross Station_. His bright blue eyes scanned the people around him. He wasn't necessarily fond of the thought of spending time in such a dangerous environment, completely surrounded by people who could potentially present a threat to his kind.

Hamish O'Kelly wasn't alone though. Luckily. His older sister, an eighteen-year-old witch with warm chocolate brown eyes and jet-black hair, brought him to the magical gate located between the platforms nine and ten.

The O'Kellys were an ancient wizarding family with its roots sprouting from all across Ireland. They took part in many events throughout history, finding themselves divided over and over again. During the _Irish war of independence_ around nineteen-twenty, the family found itself torn between the two sides. Leaving the loyalists to the British government, and banishing them from the family after Ireland won the war. The split family found itself spread over the green hills of Ireland, from Cork to Belfast.

Those that were banished from the family after the war were largely found in Northern Ireland and chose to name themselves the O'Kellies to keep similar to their old heritage.

Though this family conflict was nothing more than history now, as the O'Kellies ceased to exist, after their last family members died during the first wizarding war, choosing to align with the Dark Lord to regain their pureblood family status, but failing to do so and losing everything they possessed. Including their family heirs and heirlooms.

Hamish didn't have anything to do with that part of his family. He himself was born on the twenty-ninth of November nineteen seventy-nine into his fathers family, who was the heir to the O'Kelly head and oldest of three brothers. He hadn't fought a war and hadn't betrayed his family or his country.

Though as a young heir of a pureblood family, even if it weren't the Malfoys or the Blacks, his father did share most views on pureblood supremacy. While he never really cared for the blood of the people around him, as his mother raised him to be tolerant towards people of every blood status, as long as they were wizards. Neither of his parents had much love left for Muggles. While his mother was rather wary of the non-magical folk and always asked him to be careful around them, his father hated them with a burning passion.

This was the reason the youngest of the O'Kellys wasn't being escorted by his parents to the magical platform, but by his sister, who, unlike her parents, didn't have a problem with muggles similar to her younger brother who was now standing right beside her looking at the solid brick wall separating the two platforms.

Back in her school time at Hogwarts, she was involved with a boy named Charles Weasley, whom she had fancied since her third year.

Like him, Cait O'Kelly was a Gryffindor and shared the prefect role with him during their last two years. They had started dating in their fifth year and stayed in contact over the summer break.

The red-haired Weasley chose to study dragons in Romania and intended to simply break things off with Cait.

She flat out refused and decided that she would accompany him to Romania in favour of staying together with Charlie, a gesture the second oldest Weasley child appreciated greatly but tried to refuse.

The father of the black-haired teenager simply forbid her to run off with the 'blood traitor scum' the Weasleys were and that she should find herself a proper pureblood boy who would be a glittering star in the family tree and would provide her with the riches of one of the ancient and noble houses.

This simply resulted in the older sibling leaving them, renouncing her family name, and moving in with Charles into the burrow, before they would move to Romania at around Halloween.

"You've seen me do it last year" Cait whispered to her younger sibling, while slowly pushing him towards the solid brick wall.

Hamish was certainly no Gryffindor, feeling immensely scared as he started running towards the wall, even though he not only had seen his older sister enter exactly here a year ago on this very day to get to her last year of Hogwarts, but he also had been on the platform nine and three-quarters himself and had entered using the same wall.

His mother had accompanied him back then, that was the last summer before his family broke apart and his sister left them for the Weasleys.

He didn't blame her. Though now that she was gone, his father had extreme expectations for him. He now would be the only heir for the families seat in the Wizengamot should his grandfather choose that his father wasn't an appropriate head of house, as neither of his other sons were up to the task. Something that seemed more and more likely every single day.

His grandfather never really appreciated the Muggle World nor was he a fan of Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards, though he tolerated them in their world, as he saw only the need, but not the potential of having wizards who weren't originating from one of the few pureblooded families left.

He disapproved of most of the actions and believes his son held and wouldn't he have been so far the only of his children to produce offerings, he most likely would have banished his fool of a son from the family years ago.

He had lost his last grain of patience with his bigoted son, as her daughter left the family and renounced the name of O'Kelly in favour of living with the Weasley boy she was seemingly heads over heels with.

Hamish's grandfather, against the wishes of his own son, dealt with the situation as he seemed fit. He offered his daughter his blessings and purchased a house in Romania for the young pair to live in, demanding in exchange only that she where to retake the name O'Kelly and rejoin the family tree as one of their own as well as forcing her and Charlie to marry to prevent there being a bastard born into his family.

While showing great initial reluctance to accept the offer, nearly rejecting it, before the family head assured her that she would be forgiven for renouncing her family name, not that she cared, and promising her that her idiotic father would neither be able to influence her, not that she would have let him, nor that he would become the next head of the family, which made her reconsider her previous stance, ending in her and the Weasleys accepting the offer.

Cait loved her brother more than her own life. She would have given hers in a heartbeat to protect him from harm. But with her renouncing her family and name, she wouldn't have been able to stay at her brother's side. Neither was she really happy about the thought of having to abandon her life as one of the heiresses of a mighty and powerful pureblood family. Though she would have if it meant for her to stay with Charlie. Now she could marry him. Something both wished, though hadn't considered an option, as they both just finished their education at Hogwarts and they both knew that Cait's father would have disagreed.

Their marriage would be around Christmas and was going to be held in the Burrow over the O'Kelly family estate, as Cait was marrying into the Weasley family, due to her being a witch, disallowing her to officially keep the surname O'Kelly after Christmas this year.

After her reluctantly accepting the offer of her grandfather, she stayed with Charles in the Burrow and would be moving to Romania before Halloween. She refused to set foot into her family home, as long as her parents were at home, resulting in her being unable to spend time with her younger brother.

They would return in mid-December to attend their wedding but would leave after new-years was over, If not before.

As the opportunity came up she instantly volunteered to go shopping for school supplies and robes with her 'kid brother', Charlie joining his fiancé within Diagon Alley. Of course, finishing the trip to the wizarding shops with the purchases of his very first wand, a twelve and a half inch alder wood wand with a phoenix feather core and whippy flexibility.

Cait also snatched up Hamish as time came for him to leave for Hogwarts, this time without Charlie joining them, which led to the two of them now standing on platform nine and three-quarters, spectating as the future and current students as they boarded the train to claim a preferable sitting opportunity before the train ultimately left the magical train-platform to head for its destination hidden in the depths of the Scottish landscape.

* * *

Gazing upon the ticket the headmaster gave him a month back, Nicholas looked up at a solid brick wall where the entrance to platform nine and three-quarters should be.

If he hadn't read the chapter concerning platform nine and three-quarters within the book 'History of Hogwarts', Nicholas would have probably thought that he currently was being apart of a practical joke. He knew that on the other side of this cold stone wall was a red steam train waiting to depart at point eleven o'clock in the morning to reach it's destination somewhere in the northern region of Scotland in the late evening.

Suddenly, without the hint of a warning, Nicholas felt a searing pain radiating from his right shoulder. Hissing in pain and surprise, he jumped and turned around to see a tall man with long hair standing directly before him, towering the eleven-year-old boy by a solid foot.

He had a pale, pointed face, with just as pale blond hair and cold grey eyes. He carried a walking stick, which head was in the form of a snake, in both of his hands as if he were about to strike the boy before him.

"Out of my way, boy!" the man hissed directly at him, his eyes piercing down at him in an intense glare.

He could feel the man's anger and disgust radiating from his soul. His head was filled with contempt and his thoughts dripped with morbidness and hatred.

Not being used to such extreme emotions, the young boy quickly pulled his cart aside but he didn't move, stagnating, his eyes fixated on the cane in the tall man's hands before him.

A hint of blood dripping from the snake's fangs, which had been moments before in the boy's shoulder. Pulling his hand up to feel the source of the pain, slightly recoiling from the man as his hands came back bloody.

"I said, out… of… my… way… BOY!" the man hissed again, more intense and aggressive this time, a hint of his anger and fury was reflected in the cold and calculating eyes of the man leaning over him.

Not easily intimidated by other people, the youngest Bishop took a step aside, instead of coming up with a witty remark, as he felt it be inappropriate to pull a sleeping dragons tail.

Even though this dragon was already wide awake, even more unwise.

While stepping back from the wall, the, while not afraid but rather nervous, pre-teen spotted three boys around his age standing behind the man.

The first looked rather similar to the older man. A slender boy with sleek white-blond hair, cold grey eyes, a pale complexion and rather sharp, pointed features. Together with an expensive-looking robe set, he wore a condescending and smug sneer which played with his elegant features, resembling the look of a self-loving dislikeable idiot.

The second one was different. Untidy jet-black hair framed the features of a child, that looked rather out of place in a group like the two former men. Almond-shaped startlingly green eyes framed with round-rimmed glasses and a scar in shape of a lightning blot on his forehead briefly held the Bishop boys searching gaze. Dipping his toes in the pool that was the boy's river of emotions, he instantly became overwhelmed with a mixture of nearly every emotion he had ever felt. More then that, they were cold. Ice cold.

He felt as if he had been pushed into a deep lake, drowning at the coldest time of the year in the coldest place on earth stuck below a thick ice layer.

Quickly retreating from the dark green of his mind, his attention turned to the last boy.

The third boy wasn't wearing a smug smirk like the first, nor a cold stare like the second. His face showed a lack of interest, a constant look of indifference present on his defined features.

He scruffy brown hair and silvery grey eyes, similar to those of the two aforementioned, most likely father and son, white-blonde haired men. Yet his had a callousness and hardness to them, which put even those that the intimidating figure of the father possessed in their shadows. They weren't cold. Just dismissive.

Fixing the figure of the boy that had been looking him up and down with a calculating and unwelcoming stare. Their gazes met, a shocking pain swept through the green-eyed boys head, one that he remembered too clearly from his second encounter with the headmaster.

In return, he felt nothing from the boy. Not a single emotion. Wouldn't it be for the searing pain in his head and the fact that he could see him standing right before him, he could have thought he wasn't there.

There was a barrier within the brown-haired boys head. One that prevented him from feeling his emotions. One he had felt before, similar to the pain in his head when he was with Dumbledore for the second time.

The headmaster had explained that what he had been experiencing was him rummaging within the boys head. It was a feat that he was capable of doing, though his form of the so-called Legilimency was far more subtle, due to it being a natural ability of his.

The barrier he had felt with the headmaster, and now with the boy, was the result of the defensive counterpart of this obscure field of magic. Occlumency. An ability he, while theoretically possessing it, wasn't able to make use of, as he hadn't been taught how to call upon or prepare active and passive defences for his mind.

The headmaster had gifted him a set of books on this particular branch of magic, to learn more about his abilities.

With those books, he also got a promise. The promise of him being tutored in the field by a specialist as soon as he was ready to begin his training. He had read the books, and he understood the basic principle of how either should work, though he wasn't able to create a sufficient shield around his mind, as he wasn't aware of how to clear his thoughts.

There were exercises in the book, loosely explaining the theory and praxis behind it, though never mentioning how those people with the natural ability to use the mind arts should handle it. It would be a different process, as the natural ability to use either didn't require any learning to be done.

Special practice and, and more importantly, he had to be challenged, as natural abilities were discovered and perfected not learned and extended.

Before his inner eye, he had to witness an emotional roller-coaster, as he was forced to relive a part of his childhood. It felt like he was taking back-seat, as someone else commandeered his mind and used it like one would a library, picking up memories and flipping through them like a book.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the pain ebbed off and he managed to regain control.

He looked around, shaking his head visibly confused only to again meet the eyes of the strange boy before him.

An unreadable expression plastered on his face. Doubt and interest started leaking through his mind, leaving his stone grey soul-windows radiating an aura of surprise and anticipation.

The boys' mental defences stood strong, though the emotion behind them shone through. Fear, self-doubt and anxiety all being overshadowed by a wave of curiosity and interest.

The group of people turned towards the wall again, one after the other walking through the barrier, entering platform nine and three-quarters to board the Hogwarts express, leaving a rather perplexed and confused Nicholas behind on the Muggle platform.

A silent hooting could be heard, originating from a cage, which had been sitting on the trolley together with his Hogwarts luggage. A white and cinnamon brown feathered tawny owl was sitting in the before mentioned cage. She had quietly followed the confrontation that had been taking place just inches outside of her cage. Now she was intently staring with her obsidian black eyes at her owner. Gently hooting in a comforting manner, her gaze shifting onto the now noticeably bleeding shoulder.

Finally being able to focus on something else than the possible threat that the trio of boys and the older wizard had presented, had left the boy, who was now clutching his bleeding shoulder, nearly completely unfazed.

It wasn't a bad wound, nor was it particularly deep. Though it did hurt like hell and the white shirt he had been wearing was now partially stained with his own blood, directly above his collarbone.

"Nicholas -" a familiar voice called over the magical platform he had just entered. He could instantly spot the source of the voice, Penny Haywood, standing with a group of five other witches, all of whom were around the same age as he and her.

She wore the same brilliant smile she had given him the last time they saw each other.

It was now a month ago that they met by chance in the Diagon Alley. The spectacle that was their wand selection ceremony still fresh in his mind.

He had spent the time since then doing that what he loved doing most. Reading. He caught up with the most recent news from the wizarding world, using a subscription of the 'Daily Prophet', the wizarding newspaper, as well as he had read ahead in their school books, already trying to learn a few spells and charms so he wouldn't fall in behind.

Not that he had tried casting any. He still remembered vividly the words of his soon to be headmaster, warning him not to use his wand outside of the school grounds or other magical places until he was of age.

This, on the other hand, gave him something to look forward to, to try while they were taking the train towards Hogwarts. A chance to cast and train a few of the charms he had already 'learned' and memorized.

Since he had read a few of the books partially through, his charms book and magical creatures and where to find them were the only ones he had finished, he now knew which subjects he would be decent enough in and which he would most likely fail miserably. Potions, for example, wasn't going to be easy. He always was quite skilled in chemistry, though potion making was something noticeably different.

Even his old professor who had a doctor in chemistry would have stumbled when it came to basic potions.

He didn't expect to fail, though he certainly wouldn't be class best.

Charms, on the other hand, had greatly interested him. He had bought the charms book and was finished with it after a very short week. He also had started reading ahead in the second year charms book, quickly learning charms he would be discovering in over a years time. But ultimately decided that it would be best if he wouldn't solely base his knowledge of magic on one singular subject.

He also discovered his interest in Transfiguration, though it didn't pull him as much as 'Care of Magical Creatures'.

He still could remember nearly every single magical creature in the book that Newt Scamander had written. A book he now had been required to have, thrilled to finally put that knowledge to use, until he had discovered that he wasn't allowed to take care of magical creatures until the third year, which had greatly numbed his mood.

Defence Against the Dark Arts, or DADA, was the final subject he had been intrigued by, deciding that this would be his third favourite subject, after charms and transfiguration until he was allowed to take 'Care of Magical Creatures'.

Neither Herbology or Astronomy could really interest him. He didn't believe in star signs and planetary involvement, or whatever.

But then again, just two months ago he didn't believe in magic either and now he was getting ready to visit a school for wizards and witches. And while he did believe in plants, he never had a green thumb, always preferring to read them to pick flowers or whatever it was you would do in Herbology.

History of Magic and flying lessons he had no real opinion on.

He had always been quite decent in his history classes, but flying was something he had no real idea on what to expect from either the lessons or from himself.

He had never ridden a broomstick, not that he would have tried, and the idea of flying a few hundred feet high with nothing more then a stick didn't really appeal to him if he was being honest.

Penny waved him over to join her and her group of friends. Nicholas hesitated to walk over to them but ultimately decided that it would be best if he tried to make as many good acquaintances and friends as possible, to prevent himself from being cast out again.

Approaching the group of girls, he started doubting the wisdom of his choice, as a few of them started giggling and whispering while casting looks at him. He had the unwelcoming feeling that he was being ridiculed by a few of the girls, as he wasn't able to catch what they were saying. Thinking it would probably be best if he would just get in the train and find a suitable place to read and practice his spells in quite, he was already standing next to Penny and so ultimately taking the decision out of his own hands, as he did just want to walk away from Penny.

Casting a glance of the girls who were looking him up and down, trying to figure out what type of boy he was, he greeted Penny with a warm smile. A warmth that only went so deep as his skin was thick.

It wasn't that he didn't like Penny. It was more of him being careful in showing his real emotions and feelings to a person who he didn't completely trust yet and especially not in front of a larger group of people who were even less trustworthy, as he didn't know anything about them, and who were intently listening in on their conversation.

His trust was hard-earned. And while he trusted Penny enough to know what kind of person she was, being genuine about the way she acted towards him and others, he wouldn't show anyone his emotions and thoughts if he couldn't one hundred per cent trust them.

"Hey, Nicholas -" the blonde witch started smiling at him with the brightest and warmest smile she could muster "- I hope you're just as excited to finally get started." She beamed while mustering his appearance and glancing at his luggage, spotting the cinnamon brown owl in her cage. "Oh... that's a cute owl!" she exclaimed while trying to get a closer look of the tawny owl in her cage.

The owl gave the blond girl a strange look and hooted in protest as the girl placed a hand on the cage.

A smile played around the corners of his lips, observing the interest the girl was showing for his owlish companion.

"Yes -" he started gently placing a hand on the cage, slightly calming the alarmed owl "- she is quite the attention grabber." finishing with a good-natured chuckle, before opening the cage and, gently, taking the owl out of it, letting her rest on his arm.

Penny started to extend her arm to pet the owl before pulling her hand back, slightly cringing, looking for his approval to continue her approach. He just nodded and observed as Penny gently stroking the owls feathering, producing a slight giggle as the owl hooted its appreciation of the gesture.

"What's her name?" Penny asked, taking her eyes only from the owl for a moment, continuing to caress the owl.

"I -" Nicholas uttered nearly unheard by anyone "I haven't thought of a name for her yet." he finished, again only muttering the sentence so that only Penny could hear. "Maybe you have an Idea?" he asked, amusement danced over his features as he noticed the thoughtful glare she gave the owl, not noticing that the owl returned the glare with equal intensity, slightly squinting its eyes at her.

"How about-" Penny stopped herself, overthinking her answer "- Rina." she finished after a short break, looking pleased with her answer.

She shot him a glance, expecting a reaction from him. She found a small smile tugging on the corners of his mouth "I think that is a great name for her" he replied simply, earning himself an indignant hoot from his feathery companion.

Rina was scandalized that her owner would let someone else name her. She shot first him and then the golden-haired girl a narrow-eyed glare, before puffing her feathers and returning into her cage, deciding not to acknowledge her owner from now on any more.

Amused by his companions' antics, he closed the cage and turned towards the train to board it and find the suitable place he had been hoping for.

"Wait-" Penny called out as she noticed that Nicholas was leaving, catching his attention again, giving her a quizzical look "- I wanted to introduce you to my friends, sorry that I got sidetracked."

she quickly added and gestured towards the group of girls who had watched the interaction between the two of them closely, still unsure of what kind of person Nicholas was or what his relationship with Penny was.

After all, she had mentioned him a few times since they first met in Diagon Alley a few weeks back.

Nicholas turned fully around again looking every one of the girls up reading their body language, before meeting their eyes, one after the other, assessing each of their prominent feelings at this current point in time.

"So guys, as I told you before, this is Nicholas-" she smiled and pointed to him while speaking to the girl group before her. "- I met him in the Diagon Alley, he helped me find the right wand -" she pulled out the beautiful English oak wand out of her luggage "- and he had been accompanied by Professor Dumbledore." she finished her explanation, looking expectantly at the other girls.

They looked over to him, he was just standing there, a few feet away spectating the group.

The first girl to introduce herself was a short and feisty girl with wine-red hair and baffling emerald green eyes. "My name is Iris O'Connor." she said with a noticeable Irish accent and a bright smile.

The second girl was more reluctant to introduce herself, yet as he was a friend of Penny's she didn't want to be rude "Marlene Finley" the black-haired girl stated simply, reaching out her hand for him to shake, she never took her brown eyes from the floor. She had an ebony coloured skin complexion and came from England, though based on the accent, she was from Liverpool.

The third and fourth girl looked completely identical. Understandably as they where twins. "My names' Lily Hazelton-" said the first "- and I'm Rose Hazelton!" the second one finished. They both had chocolate brown hair and hazel brown eyes, they were a little smaller then Marlene, but still a good few inches taller then Iris.

The last girl had, in contrast to the three before, blond hair, though she was different, she looked slightly older, and on her luggage was the red and gold of the house of Gryffindor.

"Hi, I'm Katie-" the girl stated, giving him a sincere smile "-Katie Bell. I'm a second-year so I'm already sorted." she explained on good-naturedly "But I do hope to see you in my house. Gryffindor is the best." she added cheekily with a wink and before he could even answer, she had hoisted her belongings on the train and was gone.

"She's probably off to find Johnson and Spinnet" Iris mused before garbing her luggage as well and boarding the train to find herself a nice compartment, followed by the twins and Marlene, who seemingly did her best not to look at him.

Penny had observed the boarding of the girl group before she sighed slightly. That had seemingly not what she had hoped to from that encounter.

"Well I guess I held you up long enough, you'll probably want to find your friends for the ride to Hogwarts-" she muttered with a weak smile while collecting her belongings. "Not really an option for someone with as many friends as me" he answered slightly bitter.

Penny shot him a surprised look, before gathering her wits again and grinning "Hard to choose, hmm?". She again noticed a short-lived look of amusement dancing over his features before they settled again to their neutral expression. "Exactly Haywood!" he exclaimed before shooting her a smirk and grabbing his things of the trolley.

"Wanna look for a compartment together then?" She asked, the grin still hadn't left her features. He only nodded in response and together they boarded the train. The smile that had crept onto the young man's features didn't leave and for the first time since his friend had moved cities all the years back, he felt like he had found someone that wouldn't abuse his trust and friendship.

* * *

_**A/N: Well, this concludes the latest chapter.**_

_**Should you be interested in seeing what kind of person O'Kelly will most likely turn out to be you can check his wand components on Pottermore and the Harry Potter Wiki as well as Wandlore:**_

_**12.5 inch, alder wood, a phoenix feather core, whippy flexibility.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed your read so far. Next chapter will come out once it is ready (written and largely mistake-free) and will most likely be about the journey to Hogwarts and the sorting ceremony.**_

_**I hate to ask, but please consider writing a review.**_


	4. The Sorting Ceremony

_**A/N: **_**Fourth Chapter, let me keep this short and sweet. I had to, again cut and rewrite a good chunk of this chapter.**

**There would have been an additional encounter on the train, in which we would see a first little on look at the relationships between some of the characters, though I ultimately decided to cut it, as I didn't know how to properly integrate it into my story path.  
**

**This chapter is the longest I've ever written. It could have probably been longer but I decided against it for quality sake.**

**Hope you do go on to enjoy this one. Next chapter will be less detailed and most likely either a time jump a couple of weeks forward or continuation of the start-of-term feast... Or a bit of both. You never know.**

_**Disclaimer: There are parts partially copied from the first Harry Potter book in here. Though while they are slightly transformed in the description the Dialogue stays the same. They are taken from the seventh chapter called 'The Sorting Hat'.**_

* * *

_**Chapter Three**_

_The Sorting Ceremony_

The red steam train was pulling the carriages filled with the current and future Hogwarts students through the green landscape of Great Britain, having left behind the city spaces of London for a while now.

There were multiple compartments filled to the brim with young witches and wizards, conversing and looking out of the windows. Somewhere reading, playing cards or chess until the school would come into view.

Penny and Nicholas were sitting in one of those compartments. She had continued to read in her potions book after they had talked for a while, and he could finally try out some of the spells he had memorized from the books.

He started with one of the simpler charms. The levitation charm. It was mentioned that the perfect hand gestures and on point pronunciation where important to produce favourable results. The swish and flick. After a few attempts, he managed to levitate his book across the compartment, where it landed in Penny's arms, surprising her as she had been deeply focused on her own book, earning him a scolding look.

As he tried to use the softening charm on one of his books, the door of the compartment door opened for the first time and a young girl, just as old as Penny and him, with bright brown eyes and bushy brown hair, which framed a round face which was housing a rather large set of front teeth.

"Have you seen a toad in here?" she asked, "-a boy named Neville lost his.". Penny only shook her head, her eyes never leaving the pages of her book.

Probably not having seen her answer, she, while intensely looking at Nicholas, asked "Well?" in a bossy tone. Slightly irritated Nicholas shared a look with Penny who had finally had looked up from her book, as she had heard the tone of the girl's voice.

"No, we haven't seen any toads passing through. Should we spot some, I promise I will alarm you as fast as I can." Nicholas answered with a slightly annoyed and even sarcastic undertone.

Penny, quickly noticing the annoyance in the boys voice, hastily closed her book stood up and reached out her hand to the girl in the doorway to take while saying "Hey, I'm Penny Haywood -" with a warm smile "- and this is my friend Nicholas Bishop" she added, pointing to the boy in question.

Slightly Irritated by the forwardness of the blonde and the cold casualness the boy showed, she hesitantly took the girls hand and reluctantly replied "Hermione" looking over to where the boy was sitting "Hermione Granger." Penny's smile still warm as ever as she gently pushed her back into the corridor

"Well, Hermione -" she began "- I'm sure that this toad is here somewhere, how about we take a look in the back of the train and leave him to practice his spells in peace." Penny continued, basically dragging Hermione away from the compartment they had just been in.

Hermione cast a last glance at the boy who still had his wand in his hand, before being pulled away by the blond girl. Their eyes meeting for a brief second, she felt a strange sensation running through her veins, making her hair stand on end.

_Curiosity_. The only emotion he had been able to feel before he lost sight of the bossy brunet, sighing in relive, he finally could continue practising his charms work. Maybe he could even continue to read the second years charms book before they were to stop in Hogsmeade and had to get off of the train.

* * *

He had managed to cast all first-year charms and was currently working on the chapter of the engorgement charm, a second-year spell, as Penny finally returned.

"And?-" he began, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth "tracked the tricky toad?" earning himself an eye roll and a grin from the girl "how long have you been working on that? I hope you still got time to try-out your charms and didn't wast it all on annoying alliterations and witty wordplay."

This time he had to grin at the girl's antics "No, I actually managed to perform all of the first year charms already-" he began, before shooting her a smile "- though I have to say your luggage wasn't the best dancer."

He referred to his attempts at casting the Dancing Feet Spell, which had ended in Penny's luggage dancing or rather spasm on the floor.

Penny shot her trunk a worried glance before glaring at Nicholas "And who allowed you to bewitch my luggage?".

He only grinned "Well, I distinctly remember asking: 'Hey Penny, is there a problem with me bewitching your luggage? If so then please say something'. Honestly, how can't you remember, that was like what, half an hour ago?" "But I wasn't here then" she shot back, amusement glinting in her eyes "Well you should have said something, not my fault that you are second-guessing yourself now." giving her a shrug before returning to his spell casting, only to look up a few seconds later, a grin plastered on his face.

Penny clearly noticed that there was something different about the way he interacted with her. Of course, he was less reserved as it was normal for one to be more private when meeting new people, though it was the first time she saw him showing genuine emotions. She had also noticed a shift in behaviour when Hermione had entered their compartment. Just seconds before, she had been observing him over the tip of her potions book, he had been wearing a smile on his features and had a positive and warm aura surrounding him.

Then as soon as the bossy brunet had entered he had adopted a cold glare, a neutral expression and an unfriendly aura. Then she had started to annoy him with her questions and his neutral expression turned into a dismissive one and his cold glare was mixed with a tick of venom.

That was when she decided, that she never ever wanted to be on the receiving end on one of those glares.

"How did you manage to stop it dancing?" she suddenly asked, after being lost in her own thoughts for a while. "Simple." he shrugged before pointing his wand at his own trunk and speaking the incantation and moving his wand in what looked like a bottom open, slanted rectangle.

"_Tarantallegra_" he muttered, the trunk before him suddenly starting to slant rhythmically from left to right turning around its own centre.

Penny chuckled as she observed his trunk 'dancing' in the middle of their compartment, before reminding herself that her own trunk did the same thin just a few minutes ago, hastily deciding to check if anything broke.

"_Finite_" Nicholas pointed at his trunk and made it stop again after he had performed a, what seemed to be, top open circle wand movement.

"Wow, -" Penny muttered in awe "- that's advanced magic. Well, at least I know that we don't learn that spell in the first year.". He only nodded, the corner of his lips twitching up again, showing signs of something that recollects a smile. "Yeah, I didn't spend the last month practising and learning for nothing," he answered, suddenly becoming very interested in his wand, signalling that he really didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, do you know more?" Penny asked, a cheeky grin appearing on her features, trying to change the subject to a more comfortable one for him.

"Only a few more." the boy said, raising his wand again. "_Lumos_" the tip of his wand, after drawing a small loop in the air, was now illuminated.

Penny observed how he mad the light disappear again after muttering the incantation "_Nox_" and turning to his own trunk, pointing the tip at the locks. "_Alohomora_" the trunk sprung open, revealing his own clothing for a short time before he locked the luggage again using the fitting incantation "_Colloportus_".

"I do know one more, but I won't use it. I haven't learnt the counter charm." he smiled at her, pointing at his second-year charms book, which he had already read a good portion of. "The shrinking charm is just about to be explained. I only know how to make things bigger."

Penny only nodded, looking somewhat exited, before turning towards her own trunk grabbing her potions book again. "Well then, let's see how well you know other subjects, like potions for example." she beamed sitting down and opening a page in her book at the very beginning.

"What are the three most crucial ingredients in a Forgetfulness Potion?" she asked, looking up again into his sage coloured green-grey eyes. "I forgot." he said with a serious face before it got contorted into a grin "I believe it is _mistletoe berries_, _Valerian springs_ and... _Lethe River Water_?" he answered, sounding unsure at the last ingredient.

Penny only nodded, a smile plastered on her face "Yes, but that is a beginner level potion." she turned a couple pages and skimmed the page before raising her head and asking "Which purple coloured potion acts as an antidote to the Confundus Charm?"

Nicholas paused a frown appearing on his features, thinking back if he had read something about the charm in question, he couldn't think of anything.

Shrugging he only looked at Penny to wait for the answer. "The Wit-Sharpening Potion," she said with a victorious grin on her face. He only shrugged again, "Never heard of that one." taking out his own potions book. "No worries, its a fourth-year potion anyways." she answered, her grin still on her face, "Just wanted to see if you were only that good in charms." she paused "But if you don't know the Confundus Charm then you can't be that great in charms anyways." she teased him, earning herself an eye roll and a chuckle.

They spend the next part of the train ride quizzing each other on different subjects. It quickly showed in which subjects they were good, decent, great or bad at.

What Charms was for Nicholas was Potions for Penny. Was Transfiguration was for him was Herbology for her. They both were about as good as each other in Defence against the Dark arts, he would probably have an edge over her, due to him being rather talented in spell casting as it seemed, and both decided that Astronomy wasn't for them.

Nicholas found himself enjoying History of magic more then he had expected, but then again, he didn't know anything about it. Penny explained a few important happenings in recent and not so recent history but wasn't a great help overall when it came to the subject as she was mainly interested in the potion side of things.

But she did tell him about one thing that he had read a couple of articles about, recently in the Daily Prophet. The boy-who-lived or Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts. This year, he would be sorted alongside the two of them, something Penny was rather excited about.

Nicholas, on the other hand, wasn't. Well not really entirely at least. He had already seen the boy-who-lived for himself and wasn't necessarily excited about spending time in his presence.

He had met him at the entry to Platform nine and three-quarters along with the Malfoys and the other boy. As he had told Penny about his encounter with Harry Potter, leaving out the details about his own usage mind magic, her excitement bumped down a bit. Still, at one point she had been thinking of searching the train to introduce herself, only to be persuaded by Nicholas to not make another journey through the compartments, under the pretence that Harry would most likely be swarmed by students like her who would want to introduce themselves.

Of course, that was the least of his concerns. His real intention was to shield Penny from the boys he was keeping company. Malfoy and the other bloke. He felt like he couldn't trust either of them. Especially not Malfoy and so to an extent also Potter.

The rest of the journey was short-lived. The sun had already set as they were coming to a stop at the Hogsmeade train station.

It had rained in the afternoon, so the stone floor and the surrounding forest where wet. It smelled like fresh air and the scent of the forest was creeping in through their noses mixed with the aroma of the close-by lake.

About two thirds into the train ride they were joined by the twins and Iris, who were already in their school robes. They had started talking about the different houses they hoped and didn't hope to be in. Iris didn't really care in which house she would be sorted into, as long as it wouldn't be Slytherin. A sentiment the Hazelton twins seemed to share. Nicholas and Penny didn't care, though she predicted that they would be in the same house, doing so bright grin.

He hoped that this prediction would come true, more then most of them could understand.

"Right then! Firs' years this way please!" shouted a large figure with a lantern in his hands at the front of the train. "C'mon now firs' years, don't be shy!" he continued shouting, trying to gain the attention of the entirety of the passengers. "Alright now- Hurry up.".

The large group of first-year students was now standing around the giant man. He had dark hair with a long beard and was wearing a heavy leather coat. "Right then, this way to the boats, c'mon Follow me!" he called out to the group and turned around walking away from the Hogsmeade train station.

They had arrived at the shore where a large group of boats was sitting, ready to be entered and to bring the students across the gigantic black lake to the castle.

The five of them, he, Penny, Iris and the twins, climbed into one of the boats, waiting for the rest to find themselves together in groups.

Hermione was climbing into the boat right next to them. Together with her was a slightly chubby, dark-haired boy who was clutching a toad in-between his shaking hands, he presumed that this was Neville, who Penny and Hermione had helped find said toad, as well as two guys with Irish accents and a dark-skinned boy.

Judging from their conversations he found out that one of the two Irish boys was called Seamus and the dark-skinned boy was called Dean Thomas.

Seamus had sandy coloured hair and brown eyes, out of the two boys, Seamus had a far thicker Irish accent. Dean, on the other hand, had no noticeable accent, but he was on the taller side. He was just as tall as Nicholas himself, who was very tall for his age, due to his rather long neck.

The last of the three was a rather short brown-eyed boy with scruffy dark brown hair. He was just as pale as Seamus and had a few freckles spread on his face, though they were basically unnoticeable.

On their right side, another group climbed into the boat. Nicholas instantly recognized Draco Malfoy and the other two. But now, Malfoy was flanked by two cave troll looking like boys, who both where on the bigger side of things in all dimensions, besides probably in the brain compartment.

The other three spoke quietly, but he could understand parts of their conversations, filtering out their names and other bits and bobs.

The boy who was capable of mind magic seemingly was called Callum Murray. The two cave trolls who were escorting Malfoy where called Crabbe and Goyle, though Nicholas wasn't sure if those where their actual names or just nicknames Malfoy gave them because he couldn't be bothered to learn their real names.

* * *

The last boat had finally been fastened and the last students were gathering at the entrance of the boathouse.

The giant man, who was called Rubeus Hagrid, explained to them that they would have to climb the passageway up to the castle entrance and meet Professor McGonagall in the entrance hall.

The twins had left Iris, Penny and Nicholas alone, as they had set out to find Marlene Finley, the last first-year girl of the group of people Penny had introduced him to.

They started their climb up the stairs, catching another nice view of the giant lake.

Hagrid had knocked three times on the large castle doors after they had arrived at the top of the passage, which led back down to the boathouse.

The doors swung open at once. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them as Hagrid had told them. She was a stern-looking older woman with light skin, green eyes, and black hair. She wore emerald green robes as well as square spectacles.

Nicholas first thought was, that she wasn't someone who he wanted to get on the bad side of.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." McGonagall answered, leading the large group of first years into a huge entrance hall, which could have easily fit a standard muggle house if one would try.

McGonagall led them across the entrance hall past, what seemed like, the entrance to a large hall in which hundreds upon hundreds of people were sitting and chatting away, into a small empty chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts", said Professor McGonagall, looking straight into the crowd of faces, who where all now cowering in the small room, huddled together, closer then they would like but sharing the nervousness they all felt, upon the impending sorting, which would decide how they would live the next seven years within these walls.

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly. But before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses." She paused, looking at every single one of the students as if to make sure they were paying attention. "The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts." pausing again, giving Neville a sharp look, as his toad made a loud noise "You will have classes with the rest of your house, -" she continued "- sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room." she finished.

A few students started to chatter silently at the back, earning themselves a cold stare by the Deputy headmistress before she started to speak again.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." again chatter broke loose, as people started to mutter about how a certain house was better than the other and which great wizard or witch was part of which house. McGonagall, interrupted for the fourth time now, continued after the chatter died down again.

"Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a great credit to whichever house becomes yours."

The deputy headmistress looked at the colourful group of students before her, as if she was expecting them to start talking again, daring them to stop her from finishing her explanation.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school." her gaze shooting across the room, "I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her gaze lingering on a few students, including Neville, Potter and a rather tall red-headed student, before turning back to the rest of them.

"I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly." and with that, she left them alone in the small room.

Instantly there was a multitude of voices from within the group of first-year students, nervously talking about what the 'Sorting Ceremony' could entail.

Nicholas slightly smiled at a few of the outrageous theories a few students where throwing around. He had read 'Hogwarts: A History' in which most of the details concerning the train-ride, the Sorting Ceremony, the Great Hall and many other things were written down and explain in. A rather useful book, though he never brought himself to finish it, unable to keep his interest long enough to drag him away from his charms and transfiguration books.

The same red-haired boy, who with more freckles then hair on his body, suggested that they would have to fight a troll or do something painful, claiming that his brothers told him that.

Suddenly several people screamed in the back of the group. Nicholas jumped, completely unprepared due to him formerly being lost with his thoughts.

A group of about two dozen ghosts streamed through the back wall, slightly transparent and white like pearls. They glid through the room, talking, unaware of the large group of students which was in a phase of shock.

"Forgive and forget, I say, -" a fat little monk argued with a ghost wearing a ruff and tights "- we ought to give him a second chance -" "My dear Friar -" the second ghost interrupted "- haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here."

They had finally noticed the group of students, who had been observing the argument between the two ghosts, and gave them a sceptical look.

"New students!" the Fat Friar mused "about to be sorted, I suppose?" he added with a smile.

A few people nodded, though still in shock at the spectral presence.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff," the Friar said "My old house, you know"

"Move along now," the sharp but heavy accented voice of McGonagall echoed through the room "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

With that, she led the group of students out of the small side room into the Great Hall. "Form a line" she commanded before they entered the Hall.

As the doors swung open, the first thing Nicholas noticed where the floating candles. There must have been thousands of them, making him wonder about dripping wax. The four long tables which were filled to the brim with the other students was directly under a roof, which directly showed the night sky outside of the castle.

Even though he had read about it, the sight still was extremely overwhelming, and not for the first time since learning about this wizarding world, he was glad to have learnt of it.

At the most far back wall of the Hall was a long table filled with older witches and wizards, the teachers as Nicholas mused, at which centre he could see the headmaster himself, who had helped him to acquire the items on his Hogwarts list.

A four-legged stool was brought out by Professor McGonagall, on which she had placed the Sorting Hat.

The entirety of the Hall was now focused on the hat, and after a few seconds of silence, a slice opened like it had a mouth and began singing.

It was a dong about what each house stood for, basically boiling down to the following: Hufflepuffs are loyal and helpful, Ravenclaws are intelligent and favour the witty, Slytherin was the house of the ambitious and resourceful and Gryffindor was the house of the brave and chivalrous.

The entire hall burst into applause, it bowed to each table and then froze once more as if it was an ordinary hat.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a scroll in hand, which she slowly unravelled. "When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

After a short pause, she called out the first name: "Abbot, Hanna"

A blonde girl with pigtails stumbled towards the stool, her face pink with anxiety and nervousness. She pulled the hat on her had, which noticeably was too large for her as it fell over her eyes, making her unable to see for the moment.

The entire hall was quiet for a moment, then the same voice that sang the song about the houses yelled out loudly "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The respective house table started clapping, as the young first-year girl walked over to them.

"Bishop, Nicholas" McGonagall called out loudly.

His blood froze, he gulped and automatically walked forward. Nicholas had for some reason forgotten that he would be directly at the beginning of the list due to his last name.

Without even realising it, he was already sitting on the chair, the hat tightly on his own head and he waited for the announcement.

"Hmm…" a voice suddenly said in his head. "Very, very interesting..." it muttered, sending a strange sensation down his back, making him shudder.

"You've got to be one of the toughest choices I've had to make in a few decades." the voice of the hat noted while searching through every little part of Nicholas being. "Intelligence, Loyalty, Bravery and Ambition… the requirements are met for every house. But where to put you?" he asked the rhetorical question.

"I see a very strong thirst for knowledge in you." the hat continued "But you would give everything to save your true friends," he stated. "I can see that Loyalty and Intelligence are your strongest attributes." the hat concluded his investigation of his moral compass and personality, turning to Nicholas memories, something the hat didn't have to do in a long time.

"I see you have been alone for a large part of your life." the hat began his analyses "The night your mother died you didn't just lose her -" the hat paused "- you also lost your family. Your father turned away from you, he was to focus on himself, so you turned to books and other means of knowledge." the hat mused, looking though his more recent memories, "You didn't turn to Books as a wish but out of need." the hat concluded "And while that might not be the case any more, you need true friends more than intellectual competitors. So, better be..."

Suddenly the hat yelled out loud: "Hufflepuff!"

There was thunderous applause from the Hufflepuff table louder than before, or at least it seemed to Nicholas like that. He took off the hat and walked off to the Hufflepuff table. He instantly was welcomed by the house with warm smiles and handshakes. The Fat Friar gave him a warm smile and a wave before focusing on the ceremony again.

A third-year Hufflepuff turned to Nicholas with a smile and introduced himself. "Hey I'm Cedric Diggory" he whispered with a warm smile, "Nicholas Bishop" Nicholas answered, before shaking the hand of the boy and turning back to the ceremony with the rest of the house.

Just as he had turned around the hat called out "Hufflepuff" again, releasing a stressed looking girl, Susan Bones, who quickly ran over to the Hufflepuff table where she was warmly welcomed by the house, sitting down next to Hannah Abbot.

"Boot, Terry" McGonagall called out, revealing the future Ravenclaw. This went on for a while with "Brocklehurst, Mandy" and "Finch-Fletchley, Justin" and so on until finally someone was called up that Nicholas recognized.

"Finley, Marlene" the witch in green robes called out. Marlene gingerly walked over to the Sorting Hat, hesitantly pulling the hat onto her head and sitting down on the four-legged stool.

There was a series of emotions running over her features, to fast to actually put into perspective. She seemed terrified, then relaxed and then tense again.

She sat there for a solid three minutes, while it seemed a lot longer than that before the hat finally announced its verdict.

"Slytherin!" he called out loudly, the fourth table started cheering, welcoming their third new student after Millicent Bulstrode and Vincent Crabbe. She didn't look particularly happy with that, though quickly hid behind a façade, one that Nicholas recognized to easily from his time at the muggle school.

Seamus was sorted into Gryffindor before the deputy-headmistress called out for "Granger, Hermione"

The bucktoothed brunette from the Hogwarts expresses slowly walked towards the hat. She took just as long as Marlene after the hat had been placed on her head.

"Ravenclaw!" called the hat out, not surprising Nicholas in the least. She seemed like a bookworm to him, one who would rather learn then spend time with others. Again a feeling he couldn't help but sympathise with.

There and then he decided to give the bossy brunette a second chance.

* * *

"Haywood, Penny" the sharp voice called out, forcing her to quickly step up to the front of the group.

Penny was extremely nervous, she looked onto the Hufflepuff table to meet the gaze of her friend, Nicholas, who gave her a reassuring smile. The green shimmer in his eyes ever so present.

She quickly pulled the hat onto her head, just like with Hannah Abbot, the hat was slightly too big for her, causing it to slip over her eyes.

"Hmm..." the voice of the hat echoed through her skull. "You are smart and brave, a good combination for a Gryffindor as well as a Ravenclaw, though, you are very loyal to your friends. Helpful and Supportive. You are helpful, friendly to most and far-sighted.

"Popular but yet down to earth." the hat mused. "Well then, I know just where to put you..."

The hat shouted out loudly into the hall, just as It had done before "Hufflepuff!"

Penny quickly took the hat off and walked away from the front of the Hall to the Hufflepuff table who were welcoming her into their midst.

She quickly sat down next to Nicholas and gave him a warm smile.

"See, told we would end up in the same house," she said with a grin.

* * *

Then the first of the two twins, Lily, was called up and sat down. It took the hat a solid five seconds to sort her into Gryffindor.

A smile spread on her face as she ran towards the red and gold table, earning herself a round of applause and welcoming wishes from the other house occupants.

"Hazelton, Rose" McGonagall called out, and the identical twin to place on the four-legged stool. Similar to her twin sister, the hat took only a few seconds to decide to sort her.

"Gryffindor!" the hat called out into the hall. She seemed to relax noticeably and ran off to her Sisters table.

Neville was sorted next, he got into Gryffindor as well.

"Malfoy, Draco" McGonagall called out, as the smug-looking blond boy walked up to the front of the group.

He took a seat on the stool, but before the hat even touched his head, it called out "Slytherin!", which seemed to amuse him greatly.

Murray was up, and similar to Malfoy, the hat didn't need to touch his head, quickly sorting him into Ravenclaw.

Iris O'Connor, the girl with the thick Irish accent got called up. The feisty redhead with eyes as green as to robes of the deputy headmistress right next to her.

In contrast to the rest of the students, she lightly pranced forward, completely relaxed and a bright smile on her face.

The hat seemed to bite his teeth out in an attempt to sort her, as it took forever. He finally called out Hufflepuff, sorting her into the house with the most first-years so far.

* * *

"O'Kelly, Hamish" his name got called up.

He only grinned to himself. He had waited for this moment a long time. He didn't know in which house he would fit. His family was filled with Slytherins and Ravenclaws, but he never really cared for power or knowledge. That didn't mean he was stupid or unambitious. Quite the contrary. He often was called one of the brighter children of his family. But he had a lot to live up to. His sister had left high expectations for him. After all, she was not only a Prefect but also top of most of her classes.

He, on the other hand, was more a man of the moment type of person.

The hat was placed on his head after he had sat down on the four-legged stool. The voice of the hat penetrated his mind. "Hmm..." the hat muttered, "loyal as much as you are helpful. Quite smart for your age, though you are most certainly no Ravenclaw. You lack ambition and you lack the resourcefulness of a Slytherin." he finished his analyse. "No… I know where to place you..." the hat concluded, before yelling it out to the rest of the Hall "Hufflepuff!"

Hamish immediately tensed. He hadn't expected to be placed in Hufflepuff. Not that he really had a problem with it. But he would have to shield himself from the onslaught he would receive once he would return home and his parents would find out about his house colours.

He vividly remembered how his parents, more his father then his mother, yelled at his, back then, twelve-year-old sister after she got sorted into Gryffindor.

He was five then. It was a traumatising memory for him, he didn't need and want to think about.

He slowly got up from the stool, and gingerly walked towards the house table.

He ignored the applause and only passively accepted the introductions. He didn't care about his house. He would have been happy in any one of the houses.

But he accepted that Hufflepuff was most likely to fit his personality. Alone judging by what Olivander had said about the wood of his wand and its owner's traits.

* * *

"Potter, Harry" Nicholas only heard the gasps and whispers as the boy-who-lived stepped up to the front of the group.

He placed the old hat on his unkempt jet-black hair, his eyes shooting to the Ravenclaw table, meeting the eyes of Callum Murray, the boy who had helped him adjust to the wizarding world and the pressure of the expectations resting on him.

He was sitting there for a long time. He didn't move a muscle. The only thing that was moving was his eyes. Shooting from one table to the other, quite often resting on the Ravenclaw and Slytherin table.

Nicholas turned to Penny with a questioning look, "What do you think is taking so long?" he whispered. She only met his gaze for a second before turning her attention back to the front of the Hall. "You were up there just as long." She revealed. Nicholas was taken aback by the revelation. He didn't realise how long he had been up there. At some point, he had just lost track of time.

"Slytherin!" the old hat called out.

There was an eerie silence hanging over the Hall. No one really knew what to make of that revelation.

Most people had expected him to be in Gryffindor like his parents. Some had expected him to be in Ravenclaw due to his supposed knowledge of magic that he had used to vanquish the dark lord.

There was thunderous applause from the Slytherin table.

Malfoy was clapping the loudest. His smug grin smeared across his features fitting to the self-loving prick he was.

Murray, one of the few students from other houses who was clapping didn't grin nor smile. He again was his old cold self, the one Nicholas had met on the train platform in Kings Cross.

The rest of the ceremony went over rather quickly. There still was applause when people got sorted into their respective houses, but the people were just not focused on that.

Most people had grown up with the tale of Harry Potter and how he defeated the Dark Lord, just as he was a baby. The expected him to be the next great wizard, the good wizard, the next Dumbledore.

He was supposed to be in the house of Voldemort's greatest enemy. Gryffindor.

A lot of people were struggling to understand what they had heard where only fairy tales. The Boy-who-lived wasn't going to be their bright knight in shining armour.

He was going to be amongst those whose parents had tried to kill him. Those whose parents were Death Eaters. Those who had followed the Dark Lord blindly.

And he was making friends with their children.

Harry Potter was a Slytherin...


	5. Swish and Flick

_**A/N: **_**Quick note, I will most likely be posting less then I did over the past few weeks due to my new term starting again in a weeks time. (It's a short one so I logically write more exams then usual. (?)) I will try to still post a chapter each week or two. Adding to this I'm on dog-sitting duty, as a family friend left her dog with us, due to her being unable to take care of it for a week. That leaves me to take care of the dog and with less time to write and read.**

**I hope you understand, this is also the reason why I didn't upload this one last week and why this one is shorter in general.**

**Still, Enjoy! Please Review!**

* * *

_**Chapter Five**_

_Swish and Flick _

The Sorting Ceremony finished with the last few students sitting down at their respective house tables.

There had been a noticeable atmospheric change since the boy-who-lived got sorted into Slytherin. The people were in a pensive mood, besides Malfoy of course and the rest of Slytherin who was ecstatic to have to the saviour of the wizarding world in their house.

Nicholas could understand them. Just like Slytherin, Hufflepuff had a bad reputation within the school walls. Though of course for entirely different reasons. While Hufflepuff had to deal with the image of being the house of those who lack ambition, bravery or intelligence, due to that being the traits of the other houses, Slytherin had to fight against the reputation of being the house of all significant dark wizards and their follower's.

Of course, there were exceptions. In both cases, there were students and former students who turned out to defy their house stereotype. Merlin, for example, who was a Slytherin, though while that was a very long time ago, became one of the greatest wizards in the history of the wizarding world. Not only judging by the commonly used phrase '_by Merlin's beard!_'.

Of course, Hufflepuff house had produced world-famous wizards like Newt Scamander and, depending on who one was to ask, Gilderoy Lockhart.

But alone from what Nicholas had heard throughout the dinner, which the headmaster started with the words "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" followed by a 'thank you' and thunderous applause, he was sharing the table with one who could potentially join that list.

The third-year, who had beforehand formerly introduced himself as Cedric Diggory to him, was one of the most prodigious students of the school.

Cedric Diggory, who currently was in an intense discussion about Quidditch with one of his friends, was a rather tallboy. He had, as one or two of the new first-year girls down the table discussed 'chiselled features' as they called it, as well as dark hair and bright grey eyes.

Nicholas observed the boy from afar. He constantly seemed to ware a genuine smile, as well as he seemed to show plenty of good manners.

He wasn't yet sure what to make of him, but from what he had seen and heard in the brief moments in which he was capable of overlooking his interactions with other people, he seemed like a genuine and good person overall. One could say that he embodied the traits of a Hufflepuff as well or even better as anyone could if they tried.

His gaze shifted from the third-year boy over to one of the newer Hufflepuffs. Hamish O'Kelly, as he remembered the boy being called up by the deputy-headmistress, was currently looking down on his empty golden plate, seemingly in a pensive mood.

The brown-haired boy wasn't looking too well. He was even paler then he was before. Nicholas remembered reading the name O'Kelly a few times in multiple books.

Based on those sources the O'Kellys were an ancient pureblood family which roots mainly laid within Ireland.

He also remembered reading that most pureblooded families where quite keen on keeping within one house here at Hogwarts. Seeing this fact proven by Malfoys rather quick sorting ceremony which sends him off to sit at the green and silver table of Slytherin.

Counting one and two together, Nicholas had a pretty good idea why the young Irish boy wasn't as happy to be sitting at this table as Penny or Iris where.

Though then again he wasn't certain. He also could be just unhappy about not being in the same house as Thomas and Finnegan, as they seemed pretty close. Or even something completely different than that.

None the less, it wasn't something that he had to worry about. At least not for now, as he was pretty sure that the ever caring Penny Haywood, who was currently in a deep discussion about their upcoming lessons and future teachers with their feisty red-headed house-mate and friend Iris, would sooner or later seek Hamish out to try and cheer him up.

Within their day-long ride from London to Hogwarts, Nicholas had grown closer to Penny already. Further then that, they knew quite a lot about each other. Besides comparing and learning for their future lessons, they had managed to talk about some of their experiences from the past. He quickly had deduced from the way Penny valued experiences that she was a person who would only have a good time as long as all the people around her were to have a good time.

A trait Nicholas, If only unknowingly, respected and valued immensely. Not that he couldn't have a good time if he was alone. But it wasn't until he had met Penny Haywood that he had learned to have a good time again.

The happiest memories of his childhood, the moments he spends with his mother, were tainted with blood, death and pain. Just like the hat said during his sorting ceremony, the night his mother died, he didn't just lose her. He lost far more than her, not only his family but also the ability to have fun and maybe even love.

He never really had friends. Only people who shared his fate. His former experiences with the school had left him scarred and wounded. The rejection of his peers and the loss of his family had turned him numb for a good portion of his childhood. His father had turned away from him as he coped with the loss of his wife by shutting himself away from everything and sinking into his work. Similar to himself, who had turned to books for comfort.

Though the introduction of the older Haywood sibling into his life changed this. The first beam of sunlight on a foggy morning. She had shown him during their first encounter, in Diagon Alley, what he could gain from the wizarding world. A bright witch with friendship to spare, enough for everybody. For the first time in a long time, he had been able to taste the affection in other people. Affection that not only she had shown him but the entirety of the world she had stepped out of. He then and there had decided to work for this world. To earn it and prosper from the fresh start he so desperately had needed.

Their second encounter, on platform nine and three-quarter, had shown him the fruit of his labour. She had introduced him to a group of girls who seemingly, similar to her, had friendship to spare, some more than others, and willingly had offered it to him.

Now, while he still considered Penny to be his best friend, he had earned more people who he could claim to be his friends.

Iris O'Connor was the first who popped up in his mind. The lively girl with the wine-red hair and emerald green eyes. Her pale face housed many freckles as well as the continuously amused features of an eleven-year-old girl who was nearly the entire opposite of himself.

The Twins where also on that list, they had now joined Katie Bell at Gryffindor, and while he still was unsure of whether or not he could trust any of the four mentioned witches as much as Penny, he had a good feeling with them.

Marlene was a different case. She was the only one out of the group of girls that he was quite sure he wasn't really comfortable in dealing with. She was the only one who threw him a small twig instead of a lifebelt when it came to the so-called metaphorical river of solitude. Not that he had expected to be saved, though he was quite sure that if the other girls hadn't been there or hadn't been so welcoming, she would have left him to drown, let him die alone.

Nicholas wasn't sure what their introduction had meant to or even for her back in London. But he was rather certain that he wouldn't be counting on her to be much different than those who he had to deal with back in his elementary and pre-school days.

"You're not eating anything." the melodic voice of his blond-haired seatmate pointed out to him. Penny was right, he hadn't even touched his plate since it appeared before him together with the food and drinks. "Yes," he answered passively while staring blankly at the plate before him. "Lost in your thoughts again?" Penny asked while taking a bowl of mashed potatoes and helping herself to its contents. "You could say that." he sighed, his gaze still not moving away from his plate. "What's bothering you?" Penny turned to him, now a hint of concern in her voice.

A smile swiftly danced over his features as he heard her change of tone. He again remembered how she had told him how she had celebrated her birthday together with her younger sister, who she always had to get a present for, even though she was the one supposed to be getting presents, due to her younger sister getting jealous.

He slowly turned his head, looking at her with tired eyes, blinking once before a smile tugged at the corners of his lips again. "It's alright, I'm just tired I guess," he muttered, the hint of a smile never leaving his features.

Penny could see the amusement sparkling in his eyes, together with something else. She wasn't able to identify what it was she saw hidden behind the obvious façade the boy before had erected again. She slightly frowned not convinced by the answer at all but decided to leave it at that. If he was going to tell her, then he would sooner or later. If not, then he would probably have a good reason for it.

Finally, he reached out to grab a bowl of chicken legs, or drumsticks, as well as a portion of potatoes and started to eat as well.

* * *

The feast neared its end as the food vanished and most people had stopped eating. One of the few that still had been, a red-haired boy that had been sorted into Gryffindor house, Ronald Weasley, looked surprised as the food vanished from his plate.

The attention of the hall shifted to the head-table, where the teaches had been sitting together with the Headmaster, and seemingly awaited final words from the headmaster.

The old man finally stood up from his chair and cleared his throat. "Ahem- just a few more words now we are fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you." his half-moon spectacles slid down his long nose, blue eyes shimmering in the light, he absent-mindedly stroked his beard while taking in the entirety of the faces before him, his gaze shortly paused on a few familiar features.

"Fist-years should note that the forest on our grounds are forbidden to all our pupils. A few of the older students would do well to take this message to heart as well." his gaze shifting to two identical-looking red-heads, they looked about two years older than the first years, before continuing his speech.

"I also want to remind those, who already resided in these halls, as well as those who will call them home for the next seven years, that it is strictly forbidden to use magic in the corridors between two classes.

"Madam Hooch will be in charge of Quidditch practices, as usual, should you be interested in joining your house team, please contact her. Try-outs will be in the second weak of the term." Dumbledore pointed at the teacher in question, before resuming his speech. "And finally, I would like to advise anyone who isn't interested in dying a very painful death to avoid the right side of the third-floor."

A few of the students started laughing but instantly noticed that most weren't joining them and quickly stopped again. Some questioningly looked over to their prefects, who seemingly didn't have a clue either.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song" cried Dumbledore out loud. Most of the teacher's smiles became rather fixated like they would be doing anything rather than sitting there and listening to the noise that was about to fill the Hall.

"Everyone pick their favourite melody," said Dumbledore "and of we go."

And the school bellowed the song, though there where multiple people who chose not to partake for multiple reasons.

One, there where people like Bishop, O'Kelly or Finley who were to lost in their own thoughts to be bothering with singing the school song. Two, people like Potter, Malfoy or Murray, who just didn't care enough or felt it be demeaning to sing such a childish tune, something that most Slytherins thought. Or three, those like Iris or the Hazelton twins who just didn't know the words.

Penny on the other hand sung loudly next to Nicholas, a big smile plastered on her face as she looked to those surrounding her.

The two Weasley twins where the last to finish, as they had chosen a slow funeral march, which the headmaster conducted the last lines of. As soon as they finished most of the hall started clapping, the headmaster himself the loudest of all.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes "A magic beyond all we do here! Now bedtime, Off you trot!"

* * *

"Now, all-" Professor Flitwick called out to the class "-remember the wand movement we practised." He looked on in full anticipation, directly into the faces of the first-year Hufflepuff and Slytherins. "The swish and flick as you remember?" he quickly added, "Now grab your wands and try to levitate the feather before of you."

The tiny professor observed the class with noticeable excitement. Then he spotted the first flying feather, a young Hufflepuff student that reminded him too much of his mother to miss it.

"Ah! - Wonderful execution Mr Bishop!" squealed the Ravenclaw head-of-house, a cheerful expression on his face, "Take ten points for your House Mr Bishop, for excellent first-time execution of the levitation charm."

Nicholas expression didn't show any form of smugness or pride in his accomplishment, why should it, he had been learning for over a month now and practising during his trip to the school. He showed only what he felt in that instance. A small smile, then he returned his wand onto the table and rested his chin on his arms while he waited for the rest of the class to finish.

After a good five minutes of observing the rest of the class, he turned to Penny and Iris who had been slightly struggling. "Need help?" he asked with a spark of amusement reflecting from his eyes. "It would be appreciated," Penny muttered, Iris only nodded.

He grabbed his wand again and gave them pointers on how to perfectly gesture and pronounce the spell. After a short time tutoring them they managed it too, earning them each a delighted praise by the charms professor and in Nicholas case another five points for helping out fellow students.

The pupil in green and silver didn't seem to have as much luck in casting the levitation charm. While more and more Hufflepuff students managed to, at least, levitate their feather for a short amount of time and only a good one or two inches above their table, the only Slytherin students that managed to levitate their feather were none other than Potter, Malfoy and Marlene Finley. While two of them were of pureblood heritage, they only managed to let theirs fly as high as half an inch for a good two seconds before they slowly descended again. Though they seemingly got better with practice, Marlene improving most, even coming close to Iris' and Pennys' performance.

The class came to a close, earning Hufflepuff overall thirty house points, half of which earned by Nicholas alone, and Slytherin ten, by Marlene and Potter earning five points each.

"I've seen some great showcase of skill by some today." the professor concluded, his eyes resting on the Hufflepuff trio, "But don't let those of you who didn't manage to cast the charm be discouraged. Some spells come easier and some don't, but you can always practice and improve." The professors gaze now shifting over to the Slytherins who seemed to be annoyed at being bested by Hufflepuffs.

"You may go now -" the professor ended the lesson with a smile, climbing of the pile of books he had been standing on "- Mr Bishop, please stay behind.".

Nicholas exchanging a quick look with Penny and Iris, before waving them off and walking towards the front of the classroom, where the professor was standing.

"Not to worry Mr Bishop -" the professor squealed "- you are in no trouble. But I did want to speak about your charms work.". The Professor looked up at the pupil before him, a bright smile resting on his features. "You do remind me of your mother you know?" the Professor asked, "She and Lily Potter were one of my favourite ever students. She was just as talented in Charms as young Lily Potter. They had a lot in common, you know, Amelia and Lily." Flitwick seemed lost in his thoughts for a second, before slightly shaking his head and looking up at him again.

"But I didn't call you here to listen to my mutterings about your mother. No, in fact, I wanted to ask you how far you read ahead in your charms book." The Professor firmly inspecting the features of the Hufflepuff before him. "Well -" Nicholas started, looking slightly uncomfortable for a second, before hiding it behind his usual neutral façade "- I am nearly through -" he continued before being cut off by the charms master who asked, astonished "- with the charms book?" "- with the last chapter of the second year charms book." Nicholas finished, amusement dancing over his features as he noticed the bulging eyes of the charms professor.

"Impressive Mr Bishop." the professor stated, "I take it you are already capable of using most of the first year charms?" Nicholas only nodded, "Well, I am capable of all first and all but one second-year charm." he stated with absolutely no emotion in his voice, as if it was the most usual thing for a new first-year to know all the charms already. "I'm in the final steps of finishing the slowing charm, sir" he answered the unasked question on the charms masters face.

Professor Flitwick was more than just taken aback by this. He knew of the Bishops situation, due to his former student having quite a good relationship with the charms teacher. He had been quite sad as he heard of the death of Amelia, just as he had heard the news of Lily's death. Nicholas himself had been raised by his father, a muggle after that. Though it turned out to be a rather self-raising family afire after that. It was known that Mr Bishops' and his son Nicholas' relationship had been strained after that.

By no means where the Bishops a prominent family in the wizarding war, nor did Nicholas have the fame of one Harry Potter. But the Nye's, an ancient wizarding family from Scotland, had been a very prominent family in Hogwarts and many magical wars which could have torn Great Britain apart and turned it into a very unpleasant place to be if they hadn't panned out as they had.

"Well, Mr Bishop -" the professor started again "I would prefer if you wouldn't mingle with too advanced magic at your young age," the professor sighed loudly "- but I know I won't be able to stop you from learning and reading more about magic, not that I would disapprove of a top student in charms, so I only ask of you, be careful." The Professor paused before adding, this time with a more joyous undertone "Same as your mother, always two years ahead of everybody else..." the professor seemed to glare into the air again. "Well, I held you long enough, off to dinner with you."

With that Nicholas left to find his friends, who were already waiting for him in the great hall. Penny, of course, wanted to know what happened and why the professor wanted to talk with him after the lesson was over. He just told her that he asked about his progress and quickly dismissed the interaction with the teacher as 'generally unimportant'.

* * *

**Thanks for reading another chapter, Hope you enjoyed. As I said before I try an upload each week or at least each fortnight. No promises though.**

**Next chapter I may try a potions lesson and another time-jump. I want to be done with the first three years as soon as possible, as my writing style fits more to characters who are already a bit older and mature. I'm looking forward to seeing how far I will be able to take this story, though it may take some time to get there.**

**Again, Sorry for the shorter chapter, I will try to make the next one longer (~6000-8000 words) again.**


	6. Pennys Plan

_**A/N: **_**Sike, not 6k but only 4... not something I'm proud of, but still better than nothing. The worst part is that I actually already wrote like 90% of this chapter a solid two weeks ago, but just couldn't find the time to finish it.**

**Sorry that it took a while to upload the newest chapter, but I really don't have much time right now. The dog may be gone, but school has started and my final term is treating me like shit already. I'd like to also say that I'm officially retracting what I said literally a chapter ago about publishing time. I most likely won't be able to write a chapter each week or two, but I'll try. **

**I will try to make the story develop more quickly, but my main Ideas I wrote down sofar only start around the third or fourth year. Until then it will be rather close to canon, at least from plot developments. (Flamel's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets).**

**Oh and finally, because this chapter is a tiny bit older and created under different circumstances then the others, you might find that this one is slightly differently written. I have much more "_jokes_" in this one, though they most likely aren't funny to anyone. I will try to avoid things like that in the future, but when I wrote the majority of this chapter I was really tired. I could have re-wrote the entire chapter, but that would have meant that this one would have been coming out in two weeks time. **

**Enough babbling, you've skimmed or skipped this bit anyway. Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter Six**_

_Pennys Plan_

The fireplace bared a crackling mixture of wood which had burned down to charcoal and a few fresh pieces which were burning away happily.

The circular shaped and well lit Hufflepuff common room radiated a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. You could her faint bird songs through the half-opened round windows as well as a gentle breeze which came by from time to time.

At the few spread out tables, multiple groups of students sat together and learned for upcoming tests, wrote their class essays which they were due for homework or just relaxed, talked and read books.

Hamish combed over his messy hair with his hand, looking lost at his charms book and rolled his quill between his fingers.

He had been spending a decent amount of time brooding over his charms essay, a foot-long description of the levitation charm and its history, without any success. Charms wasn't his field of magic. Flying lessons and Herbology where his specialities, maybe Transfiguration as well but he wasn't generally great at it.

He re-read the essay and frowned, not even six full inches of text. He had mentioned everything he could think of and read in the books, not that he would claim that this essay would impress his charms professor a great deal, or at all of that matter.

His gaze flew around the room, looking for nothing in particular. His eyes landed on a trio of first-year pupils who were joined by a third-year student, Cedric Diggory if he remembered correctly, enthralled in a deep conversation about whatnot.

He couldn't hear them as they spoke too quietly for him to understand. Sometimes he could catch one or two words, from which he guessed they talked about the end-of-year exams. Charms and Potions seemed to interest them most.

Hamish remembered their names from their Charms lessons. Similar to them in class, they seemed to be constantly surrounded by a small pack of students.

Bishop, the tall brown-haired boy, seemed to know enough to get an 'O' or at least an 'EE' in any of his first-year examinations. But Charms and Transfiguration where the subjects where he excelled and surpassed any of is peers, and a good few of his elders for that matter, and while he had his weaknesses, namely Astronomy and Herbology, the fact that he spends his time with Haywood and O'Connor seemed to balance out his shortcomings in any less favourable subjects, as it did the same for the two, the other way round.

Penny Haywood, the probably already most loved and popular witch in all of Hogwarts seemed to have a special knack for Potions and Herbology. In these two subjects, she noticeably outclassed Bishop and the rest of the first-years. Well at least most of them in either. He himself liked to think that he was just as good as she was in Herbology and he guessed that Malfoy and a few other Slytherins were also not too far of when it came to brewing potions. But he had to concede that she was probably the best first-year in potions.

O'Connor's strengths rested in DADA and, for some unknown reason, in Astronomy. While her DADA skills didn't seem to rival those of Bishop, she was definitely a great student when it came to the subject. But Bishop seemed to excel in most subjects that used a wand, though he remained quite useful in potions, something to do with muggle 'chemistry' and 'prep-school', he probably was among the top ten first-year potion brewers. A rather unique trait among none-Slytherins, as their head-of-house, Professor Severus Snape, seemed to favour his own house rather strongly during his lessons. But both Penny and Nicholas had seemingly 'impressed' the Potions master enough to not deduct them points for breathing to slowly or thinking too loudly, something he used as an excuse to deduct points from Gryffindors often enough though.

O'Kelly sighed heavily as he turned back to his now even more insignificant feeling charms essay. Scrambling the paper and throwing it away, starting again from the beginning.

.oOo.

Penny observed Hamish from afar. The scruffy brunette wasn't one of the easiest to read people.

Well at least if you weren't Nicholas Bishop, naturally gifted in mind arts and generally just an awesome and generally great person. Not that he was one to boast. No, really. Okay, maybe Penny had made up part of the adjectives that he had used to explain her about his abilities, but it didn't change the fact of the matter.

He had told her about his ability to 'read' peoples emotions just from looking at them. He suspected he got this natural affinity from his mother, and that he was learning on how to control his abilities better.

She had been quite taken aback by the revelation, as she hadn't been expecting a wizard their age being capable of possessing active skill at Legilimency or Occlumency, rare enough one of them but two of them at once was a natural phenomenon.

When she had asked him why he trusted her with this, as not only this magic was considered darker but also since he had usually been a rather secretive person, especially in terms of his past. He had sheepishly responded, in a way that reminded her that he was still an eleven-year-old boy, that he had never trusted anyone enough to be a genuine friend and asked her not to tell anyone, as if a five-year-old told another five-year-old not to tell his parents that he hid cookies under his pillow.

But in this case, the five-year-old who hid the cookie was an eleven-year-old, that usually acted rather mature, who hid a potentially dark and dangerous magical ability under his pillow.

She had only responded in a the more she thought about it, just as childish manor '_Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone._' and never spoke to him about it again.

For a week.

Though she did do some light research regarding the topic in their school library after that. She didn't even know why, as she didn't know what she hoped to find out about his abilities. Not that there would be any books on Occlumency and Legilimency in your usual school library.

But as she thought before, she couldn't, or rather wouldn't, just ask Nicholas to tell her what Hamish thought. Not that he could even if he wanted, as he had explained to her that he could only feel a small selection of emotions.

She felt as if that would be a great breach of trust if someone were to tell someone else what she would be thinking at this very point in time. Her mother had always told her 'Treat others as you would want to be treated!', a mantra she had lived by until now and planed on do so in the future.

So, in usual Penny Haywood fashion, she thought about something she could spark a conversion about and slowly turn towards her real motive. She didn't like seeing someone being as isolated as he was and made it her mission to integrate him into the Hufflepuff social life, similarly to what she had done with Nicholas.

But this time her cards, the circumstances and stakes were different. Nicholas had decided to trust her for multiple reasons, some of which she had no control over while some of were just natural affinity and others were black magic.

"You know, one could think you would do great in Slytherin." the accented voice of Iris intoned behind her, turning her attention back to the group of Hufflepuffs, who were all now looking straight at her. "What do you mean?" Penny asked, slightly bewildered, cocking her head slightly.

"I don't even need to look you in to your eyes to see that you are currently working on some form of plan." Nicholas whispered next to her "And guessing by the way you looked at O'Kelly over there, he is the centre of the plan." he said, this time a bit louder, slightly cocking his left eyebrow, a grin shortly dancing over his features, his green eyes connecting with hers.

It had taken her a whole week, a rather short period of time, all things considered, to work out how the eyes of one Nicholas Bishop reflected his mood.

If he was happy or angry, his eyes shone brightly green. Not as green as the pure emeralds that were pressed in Iris eye sockets, but green enough to shimmer like a scale taken from a green damselfish.

If he was in a pensive mood, annoyed or sad, his eyes where nearly stone grey with even the slightest hint of blue in them.

And should he be in a neutral mood or generally only feeling a slight nudge into a general direction of emotions, his eyes shimmered in a sage-green mix with very subtle bluish-grey contrast.

Currently, his eyes shone in a bright green. A clear sign that he was genuinely amused. Penny may be not able to read people like he could, but she could read him like none other.

A skill she herself deemed rather useful, as he had the habit of hiding his emotions behind a neutral façade.

If he did put up that fake face, there where only very little and subtle pointers based on which one would be able to guess his true emotions.

The eyes told her quite a bit, but even they weren't an accurate source of information. There was always a certain combination of subtle hints that she could notice, but she often wasn't able to put them into the correct order.

It wasn't easy to notice the slight changes in his behaviour. If he didn't want one to know how he felt and what he thought, then you just had to guess or forget about it.

In Penny's case, he usually opened up a great deal more, allowing her at least try to make a somewhat accurate guess. She once asked him the significance behind putting up a façade to hide one's true self, instead of showing it to the rest of the world as others did. In retrospect, she regretted asking that question, as he turned noticeably colder towards her after that then. He had muttered something about his mother and how her death had changed him and his family, after which Penny had stopped bugging him with that discussion, finally conceding that she was fighting, not only a lost battle but also a rather fruitless war.

She had quickly apologised for being too intrusive, as she felt like she had just broken his trust in her. That resulted in her treading lightly around him for a few days, never starting a conversation with him out of her own free will, but rather waited until he spoke to her. She stopped trying to figure out what he thought at the moment and just took a step back, keeping to herself more.

For half a week they managed to keep this up, until he finally accepted her apology, by apologising to her about his behaviour. She had been surprised that he would apologize for, as he called it snapping at her and 'being rude'. It sounded so childish and immature out of his mouth.

People seemed to forget his age when talking to him, so one could act surprised when he had his more 'age-appropriate' moments.

As he had talked to her then, he had sounded so sheepish and even vulnerable. Penny had quickly explained that he had done nothing wrong and that it was her lack of judgement that had put them into this awkward position. But in favour of regaining her relationship with one of her best friends, she accepted the apology, though she thought none was needed, and let sleeping dogs lie.

It didn't take long after that, for both of them to return to their old selves. The laughing and teasing of Penny Haywood and the restrictive openness and sarcasm of Nicholas Bishop.

"I indeed do have a plan Mr Bishop" Penny teased the eleven-year-old boy with a big smile on her face. "But you don't need to worry about that yet.", the blonde witch grind sweetly at the taller boy.

Nicholas only frowned slightly "What makes you think that I'll help you with your plans, Haywood?". Penny glanced at him for a second, before returning her gaze to Hamish. "Well -" Penny started, turning back to Nicholas "- I just know for a fact that you will!" she stated, giving him her signature smile, which normally led to Nicholas, willingly or, most of the time, unwillingly, assisting Penny in whatever she would ask of him.

He sighed heavily before closing his eyes for a second or two, taking a deep breath, opening them again and begrudgingly looking straight at Penny. She still wore a wide smile, though this time it was a victorious smile. She quickly stepped forward, hugging the tall, now grey-eyed, boy and whispering a 'thank you' into his ear and just as quickly turning away and skipping across the room to the table that was currently occupied by the before mentioned Hamish O'Kelly.

"Hey, I'm Penny Haywood -" the blond Hufflepuff said across the room from him. "- and that over there is my friend Nicholas Bishop.".

.oOo.

The half-moon spectacles of the headmaster were currently resting on his nose, while the ancient wizard slowly stroked his beard.

The circular office was filled with small apertures and other machines of sorts. All of them seemed to had some form of purpose, even if said purpose was to radiate noise or create small bubbles. The headmasters familiar, a large red phoenix, was currently resting on his perch, observing the teachers who where sitting across the table from the ancient wizard in his armchair.

The four heads-of-houses, Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Pomona Sprout, had been called to the monthly teachers meeting, which normally entailed things like who got to use the Quidditch pitch when and which student got what detention when for how long, among other things.

This time, however, which was the cause of the noticeably different atmosphere, the only teachers present where the heads-of-house, in turn for the usually presented entire staff, save for Argus Filch the caretaker, Rubeus Hagrid the gamekeeper, Irma Pince the librarian and Poppy Pomfrey the school nurse.

"Well -" Dumbledore started, the usual glint in his eyes, while readjusting his spectacles "- because this is the first time we meet this year, I want to begin by asking: how are the students doing? The first-years in particular and especially Mr Potter."

None of the teachers answered at first, each waiting for someone else to begin. "How about your lions Minerva?" the headmaster looked at the dark-haired Gryffindor head-of-house.

"They're doing as well as expected." the transfiguration professor answered, with her ever so present Scottish accent. "Though -" she interjected after a quick pause "- at least for now, I've noticed that my lions aren't as…" she hesitated, looking for the right words "… quick as some other students in their subjects.".

McGonagall giving the other heads-of-houses a slight side-eye, as if daring them to slander her lions.

"Yes, yes -" the small professor Flitwick quickly added, "I've noticed that there is a selection of students performing admirably this year." he smile widely "And while I maybe not falling over from joy that these students aren't wearing the blue and copper uniform of Ravenclaw, I am rather enjoying the lessons with the new pupils."

Similar to the Gryffindor head-of-house, the Charms Master, thought with no envy or spite, looked on to another teacher in the room.

Professor Sprout was beaming. She, of course, had seen the trio of Students in action, and she knew exactly who they were talking about. "Mr Bishop and Miss Haywood, as well as Miss O'Connor, are rather… capable students." the potions master sneered at the glare he received from the Herbology teacher. "'capable'?, exemplary is more fitting!" the grey-haired Hufflepuff house teacher claimed.

Flitwick only nodded in agreement "Yes, they are rather formidable students." the diminutive professor stated. "Mr Bishop of example is way ahead of his peers in terms of charms." he continued, a bright smile plastered on his features. "A prodigy in Charms indeed, he surely takes after his mother.".

"In Transfiguration, I've noticed similar things." the now no longer as disgruntled looking Professor McGonagall added. "He managed to ace the transfigurations and knows all the theory behind most of the spells and charms he uses already."

The headmaster nodded in agreement "Yes, I've heard only good things about Mr Bishop from most of the other teachers. A bright young wizard, no doubt, even Quirinus seems taken by the young man and his talent."

"Well whatever talent he seems to possess, It seemingly ends at the beginning of a simple potions book. Quite the same goes for Miss O'Connor." the potions master spat. "Miss Haywood, on the other hand, seems to be not as..." he hesitated "… much of a failure when it comes to potions.". Of course, the potions teacher and Slytherin head-of-house knew that the feats of both Penny and, while not as much, Nicholas were more than sufficient to reach passing grades at any given pre-OWL exam. Miss Haywood was a potions prodigy, but he wasn't about to admit that in front of the other heads-of-houses.

"While I do not agree with the formulation of that assessment, I do have to agree that Mr Bishop's talent covers mostly those subjects that directly involve practising magic like Charms, Transfiguration and DADA. While Miss Haywood, on the other hand, seems to be in the possession of, how do the Muggles call it? A green thumb?" the Hufflepuff head of house added.

"Now that we have spent enough time discussing this utterly unimportant subject, I hope we can continue our meeting, as I have to prepare the ingredients for tomorrows N.E.W.T classes."

"Of course Severus, but one more thing before we turn to other subjects, what about young Harry Potter?" the headmaster inquired, a mixture of concern and interest marrying the glinting eyes that where ever so present on his features.

The headmaster hadn't been entirely surprised by the fact that young Harry had been sorted into the house of snakes. Nor had he been worried. Well, at least not when it came to his end goals, though he had been concerned by the fact that the Boy-who-lived was now surrounded by people who possibly could end up hostile towards him.

The potions professors features abruptly changed from a slight sneer to an unreadable façade. "Mr Potter seems to be performing… acceptable in most of his classes." he quickly shot professor McGonagall a glance before continuing "he also seems to be accompanied by a selection of students he seems to be somewhat fond of."

"Ah," the headmaster said with the look of insecurity vanishing from his features "so Mr Potter is making friends amongst his house-mates. That's good. And who are these students?"

"Mr Malfoy, Mr Murray, Mr Nott, Mr Zabini, Miss Finley and a few others..." the potions professor said, the annoyance was physically dripping from his words. "Now! Shall we move on to more important matters?"

The headmaster only nodded and turned to the other subjects at hand. His smile hidden under his long beard and his eyes twinkling at the other professors.

.oOo.

"Hey, I'm Penny Haywood -" the blonde girl had abandoned her group of friends on the opposite side of the room and was now standing directly above Hamish.

She wore a brilliant smile, seemingly a constant on her features, and her blue eyes shimmering with anticipation. Penny quickly raised her arm and pointed to the group of people she had just left "- and that over there is my friend Nicholas Bishop." roughly indicating the position of the brown-haired wizard.

Hamish, who of course knew them already, only smiled polity, while quite shyly, and muttered his name in response. He tried to pull his focus on the ever so empty page of homework before him, but Penny didn't seem fazed by his attempt of avoiding a conversation.

"I was wondering…" Penny started, her smile now slightly less bright but still present, her eyes fixated on the quill in Hamish's hand "… If you maybe would be interested in joining me, Nicholas and Iris as well as some other students later on in the library? We have a little study group where we work on our homework or prepare for upcoming tests and exams."

Hamish was startled by the offer. He slowly looked up at Penny, her eyes still fixated on his resting quill, and slightly tilted his head to the left. Her eyes rose to meet his and her smile grew as bright as it was before.

"I'll… think… about it?" he somewhat asked and stated at the same time, not entirely focused on the subject at hand. "Great!" Penny smiled, before pulling out her wand and tipping the surface of the parchment before him.

He noticed the remarkable-looking wand, for the first time being able to look at it up close, after having seen it a few times in class already. It looked like an oak wand, roughly twelve inches. But that wasn't the remarkable part of the wand. It was more the Ivy that was growing up the shaft of the wand, carved from wood, before slowly transforming into a twisted tip.

Said tip, which had been just resting on the parchment, raised and left in its place a time. "If you decide to come, that is when we start." she explained "learned that charm from Nicholas.", then she turned around and left to chat with a group of second and third year Hufflepuffs who had just entered the common room.

His attention turned back to the parchment after watching the young blonde leave. He had started making a habit of chewing on the top of his writing feathers, not something he was too happy about himself, but it helped surprisingly well with thinking and decision making. He was unsure of whether or not he should accept the offer of joining the study group.

The more he thought about it, the more appealing it seemed. A group helping him with subjects he struggled with and he could help other people with subjects he was more versed in then they were. It would also be a prime opportunity to finally meet some of his houses- and school-mates he so far wasn't introduced to.

But the only thing he could constantly hear in the back of his head was his father ranting on about blood traitors and mudbloods.

* * *

_**A/N**_**: One last thing, please tell me, especially in this chapter, if the way I wrote this one was better then the ones I wrote before. I will try to incorporate a few bits of dry humour and sarcasm here and there, but only when they are related to the main OC (Nicholas Bishop) as this is part of his personality.**

**If this isn't something you would like to see please tell me, so I can avoid it. **

**But anyway thanks for reading and have a nice day.**


	7. Troll In The Dungeon

_**A/N: **_**So, been a while. Half this chapter was already done when the last one was up. But I didn't find the time to continue and finish it.**

**Finally, I decided to do so, as I had nothing to do this weekend, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_**BUT BE AWARE!**_

_**This Chapter contains descriptions of physical violence, as well as rather 'colourful' descriptions of a rather unpleasant injury.**_

_**This chapter is the reason why I changed the Story from Rated T to M.**_

**None the less, I do hope you go on to enjoy this chapter. I hope to find some time to write the next one in one or two weeks time.**

And before you wonder, this chapter starts off from the POV of Iris, but gradually changes into the POV of Nicholas.

* * *

_**Chapter Seven**_

_Troll In The Dungeon_

October 31st, 1991

It now had been a whole month and a half since the day in the Hufflepuff common room, Penny and her friends had extended her hand in friendship to the Irish wizard.

The group, now containing a good few more people then it did at the very start, had been as much of a success as one could have wished from it. All members, the original trio and a few new and old friends, including witches and wizards from all houses and even multiple years, noticed a significant increase in their school-performance.

Especially in the case of Marlene and Hamish, who both had been acting a bit out of place in their respective houses at the very beginning, had stabilised and increased their performance over the past few weeks. And while certain members of the group weren't necessarily an asset to the group's performance or even just come-and-go-members as Iris called them, they were still warmly welcomed.

Nicholas and Penny, as well as another first year, a Ravenclaw with bushy brown hair and rabbit-like teeth, were in charge of the meetings. Usually, they met based on the type of school work they would be practising or which homework was being discussed, at three different locations.

Number one, the most obvious and first-ever meeting place, the library. While the library was usually not the best place for larger groups to do their spell- or classwork revisions, it offered the group an opportunity to work on their essays while being able to 'quietly' ask questions and discuss the topic at hand.

Madam Pince, the librarian, was an extremely nitpicky older woman who would instantaneously silence anyone who dared to speak above faintest whisper volume. Which of course wouldn't do for a group filled with a solid two dozen people, who wanted to learn and discuss aspects of their magical education they didn't entirely understand so far.

Location number two, also rather obvious but much easier to work in, was an empty classroom on the fourth floor. A classroom build rather similar to the charms room, even filled with some dummies at the back, which would come in rather handy when trying to practice jinxes and charms, together with a few spare feathers and a bookcase filled with a decent amount of old first to fourth-year school books. Though in this case old meant not old as one would hope to find old books in an abandoned classroom, rather old books as in the very same books they currently used in class but just hand-me-downs from parents and former students as they didn't need the books any longer.

The third location wasn't as obvious while being hidden in 'plain sight'. It wasn't obvious, as people who went to the large tree next to the black lake usually didn't have learning interests in the back of their head. Not that any first or second year would ever know what older students used this place for.

Over the past few weeks, the group had only met in the second location. Nicholas, Penny and Hermione Granger, the before mentioned Ravenclaw 'know-it-all', usually were at the front of the classroom. Noticeably one always remained at the lectern in front of the class, while the two other students went around and answered questions or held discussions with the present pupil.

The constellation always changed based on the topic of the current 'class'.

During Charms, Transfiguration and DADA revision Nicholas usually went around and answered questions, helped with pronunciation and wand movement and generally offered a helping hand when it came to essays.

He sometimes even asked Iris to help them, when the group was too large to be handled by three people alone. After all, he claimed she had quite the knack for DADA, something she of course already knew, but it always was nice to hear praise come from the tall Hufflepuff.

Potions and Herbology were the topics during which Hermione stood behind the lectern and Penny helped with questions or assisted with homework injunctions. And during Astronomy and History of Magic revisions both Nicholas and Penny remained at the front of the class near the lectern and Hermione went around answering general questions way to precise, which in turn was the usually emptiest part of the group's revisions.

It had taken an enormous amount of persuading, partially even pleading, by the Hufflepuff trio and Hermione, to get the permission from all of the heads-of-houses and the headmaster alone. While both Dumbledore and professor Flitwick had absolutely no problem with the idea, both the professors Snape and McGonagall where generally against a student organisation to be formed.

And while the reasoning of the Potions professor was unknown to the four, the Gryffindor head-of-house was strictly against the idea of them practising magic outside of the classroom. An argument which was promptly turned against the Transfiguration professor by Nicholas, as he claimed that they were practising magic _inside_ of a _classroom_, just not during lessons.

Safe to say, he earned himself two-hours detention with the caretaker but left with a permission slip towards the greenhouses.

Professor Sprout didn't seem too impressed by the idea either, but against her 'better judgement' as she had called it she had finally signed off the permission slip as well.

Hermione and Penny returned to Dumbledore with all four signatures, how Penny had managed to gain the approval of the Slytherin head-of-house was beyond the other three students, as she had only answered 'magic' with a bright grin and a childish giggle any time they had asked her about her accomplishment and continued to not extend on the topic any further. Slightly infuriating, but not unexpected for the Hufflepuff.

In return for the approval of the five professors, the three Hufflepuffs and Hermione were made responsible for the actions and problems the students caused during these meetings. They also had to make sure that student safety was the top priority during the spell casting lessons, as none of the present children had the skill nor the experience to handle any rogue spells, miss-transfigurations and badly pronounced charms.

That was partially the reason that active spell casting training was quite rare during their revisions and only under direct supervision. But common charm training and sometimes even transfiguration were part of their every-other-day meetings.

This was only permitted, due to Nicholas general skill in said subjects, but in return for that trust, any spell-casting-sessions, as the group had started calling them, had to be overseen by either a teacher or another member of staff.

Thankfully it was professor Flitwick who usually declared himself ready to oversee their sessions, but only under the condition that these would only be held once each fortnight.

Sadly, should the diminutive professor not be available, the only person unable to refuse would be Filch the caretaker. The complete opposite of the always smiling duelling champion professor Flitwick was, as most students whom where part of the group mused that the caretaker would rather watch each of them die a very slow and extremely painful death than watch them practice their spell casting.

Luckily until now, this had never happened, and during the last three meetings, the charms teacher always watched over the proceedings with inexplicable joy. But, it was bound to happen one day. Not something anyone in the group looked forward to happening or witnessing for that matter.

Yesterday had been the last meeting of October and Iris managed to finish the potions essay she had been boding over for the past few days quite quickly after Penny had explained her the brewing process and effects swiftly and gave pointers without the sneering or looking down on her condescendingly like the potions professor usually did.

Currently, Iris was sitting in her usual space on the Hufflepuff bench, where she would usually sit next to Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones and across from Nicholas, who in turn usually sat in between Penny and Hamish or Cedric Diggory.

But none of them had yet shown up for the evening feast, it was Halloween after all. While she had been raised in the Magical world as a half-blood, the Halloween muggle tradition of dressing up was noticeably absent within the halls of Hogwarts during this particular holiday.

She had been rather early to come down to the hall, after all, they had just had a block Astronomy which, as the name suggested, was being held on the astronomy tower at the entire opposite of the school.

Lost in thought, Iris hadn't noticed how the entire hall slowly but surely filled with students, most of which were awestruck by the creative decorations of the hall.

Hanna and Susan appeared out of nowhere and sat down on their respective usual places, looking at the front of the hall to were the headmaster and the professors sat.

The Hufflepuff first years had earned themselves quite the reputation around the castle. Of course largely due to Nicholas, Penny, Iris and Hamish, who all usually were greeted in the halls and used as pointers by professors for guidance in their respective preferred subjects.

The trio, containing Nicholas, Penny and Hermione, who organised the study group were probably the most popular students in their year. Well, maybe not Hermione, but her reputation slightly increased with the rest of the school, apart from the Slytherins, and sometimes even was seen talking with a few of her housemates.

Penny had been, of course, even without the study group one of the most popular students in the entire castle. But since she and Nicholas with the help of Iris and Hermione started the group, her reputation sky-rocketed. This was largely due to her helpful and generous nature, as well as her usually happy character, and her near mastery of the subject every non-Slytherin hated.

Nicholas hadn't been in focus as much as his company but now he, for the same reasons as Penny, was amongst the most requested students in all of the castle. He was known to possess finesse in third and even fourth-year charms and transfiguration spells and capable of casting a few curses they were yet to learn in DADA. But above his spell work, he was capable of helping other pupils with their Care of Magical Creatures assignments.

After having spent five years reading and re-reading the Newt Scamander original CoMC book with annotations and unapproved creature research, he had a very good understanding of most animals within the magical world, or at the very least in magical Britain. After all, it had been his only and favourite book since his mother died all those years ago.

But that was also were his magical finesse ended. While he was somewhat decent at Potions thanks to Penny and had the 'Hufflepuff bonus' in Herbology, which didn't help him one bit, by the way, every other subject seemed to be amiss to him.

His very first flying lesson ended with him not being able to move a broom with the command and spending the night in the hospital wing. Astronomy wasn't something he understood, neither did he pretend to, but it was funny to tease Iris and her love for the subject.

History was his weekly-sleep-catchup subject. The monotone voice of the teacher and the dated topics lost its magic after just half a month. But based on what Cedric told him, he would be able to get an 'acceptable' by just writing something about the goblin rebellion of 1612.

* * *

Both Penny and Nicholas had returned to the Hufflepuff common room before the feast to put away their school bags and parchments before ascending to the great hall again. It had taken them longer as expected, as thanks to one of the windows of the Common room, which seemingly had been left open, had emitted wind which had blown about the papers and parchments and spread them across the room.

Being who they were, both Penny and Nicholas had collected them and closed the window. Just as they were about to walk up the stairs next to the common room, which would lead them to the great hall, they heard loud stomping noises. Penny first suggested that it was maybe thunder or peeves throwing things about, but the sounds were to rhythmical.

They had just about cleared the dungeons and turned a corner, as they came to a stop before a gigantic mountain troll. It had turned it's back on them and seemingly hadn't noticed their presence. Both Penny and Nicholas were quite rightfully shocked by the fact that they were a few feet from certain death.

A grown mountain troll would create difficulties for anyone apart from highly powerful wizards. No spell a usual first or second year carried around would be capable of actually harming or even just slightly injuring any kind of troll at all.

Nicholas recalled that he had read something about magic resistant skin or something in his CoMC book. Not that it would matter at this point, as he was entirely frozen in place by the shock that he still was working on pushing down.

Penny was the first to gather her wits and control over her body again, as she slowly pulled out her wand and tugged on the coat of her friend on her right. Nicholas copied her action, pulling out his cedar wand and slowly taking a few steps back, mirrored by Penny, before looking around frantically trying to figure out a plan to get out of their sticky situation.

The troll, who had come to a stop, slowly turned around to look at the two young sorcerers standing before him. It was confused at seeing the two small humans in front of it.

"NOW!" Nicholas screamed as he shot a bright beam of light out of his wand at the mountain of a troll before him. Penny shot forward and ran past the slightly incapacitated troll before taking a stand a few feet behind it and shooting off a few red sparks from her wand to gain the mountain trolls attention. It slowly turned around to look at the blonde witch before him, raising his club to bash down on the girl.

Nicholas quickly reacted and yelled out the first incantation that came to his mind. "_**Spongify!**_" an orange blot shot out of the tip of his wand, hitting the raised club before it could rain down on the shocked Hufflepuff girl.

Being the pea-brained troll it was, it didn't notice what happened to its weapon, and of course, continued swinging with the now pillow-like club, trying to hit the blond witch, though success was yet to be had for the beast. Direct danger averted, Nicholas shot a new spell, a stinging-hex, at the troll in an attempt to gain its attention, to pull its focus away from Penny.

Time had been moving in near slow-motion since the beginning of the encounter, Nicholas' mind ran at top speed trying to figure out a way to get out of their situation. The immediate response was to disarm their opponent, but being a mountain troll with largely magic resistant skin, it wasn't the easiest task. The softening charm had popped up in the forefront of his mind before he had even reacted his wand had already shot the spell.

The orange blot had shot slowly out of the tip of his wand, hitting the club raised high above the trolls head.

'Now what?' the boy asked himself 'think think think… how do we get away from this…'.

His mind ran a million miles a second, a year each breath.

Suddenly his eyes lit with dangerous and brilliant green. He had a plan. He pointed the tip of his wand at the head of the troll before a pink lightning shot from the tip.

The severing charm, "_**Diffindo!**_", his intent clear as day. He wanted to injure this beast, not that the spell would do any damage at all after all the thing had magic resistant skin. It was only fair, eye for an eye.

The powerful pink flash shot across the hallway and connected with the trolls head. A loud crunching sound could be heard. An unhealthy, sickly and gut-wrenching snap, the sound of something being torn in half, and suddenly it was silent.

Penny had just narrowly escaped the club, while it may be not as hard any more, it still would hurt and the force behind a connecting blow would be quite strong. As if only to add to the situation at hand, chances still seemed rather dire. She didn't need to be Nicholas to now that a Mountain troll of this size wouldn't require a club to kill either of them.

She shot off a Knockback-jinx trying to gain distance to the beast, not that it did her any real favour. They would need help, quickly.

The troll stared at its club incredulously, having now noticed the softness of the weapon, before throwing the thing to its side and fixating the witch again.

Penny could hear distant steps quickly advancing towards their position. She turned around to see none other then Professor Dumbledore and the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor heads-of-houses turn the corner.

They all froze at the sight. Penny was about to call out for them to hurry as she suddenly heard the sickening crunch of bones and stone being shattered together with a loud and fierce scream that loosely resembled the severing charm's incantation.

She turned around and with her, her stomach.

The troll had stopped moving and now dumbly (not that it didn't before) looked in her general direction. She slowly looked up at the ceiling, where now a gigantic rift appeared and slowly spread.

A few tiny pebbles rained down from that rift, one slightly larger hitting the troll on its shoulder. Penny noticed that it didn't even react. Its head slightly jerked and then it slowly tilted forward and landed face first a good two inches before her.

Green blood leaking from a large slash at the back of the trolls head.

Penny noticed she had started screaming, somewhere around the time the troll started toppling towards her.

Then there another loud crunch, this time from slightly above her, and this time no bones just pure stone. She looked up to see the ceiling crashing down towards her before she blacked out. The last thing she heard was someone yelling out some incantation she couldn't quite place to a spell. Not that she would be thinking anything any time soon. After all, she just had been buried under a large mountain of debris and shutter

* * *

Nicholas noticed the trolls head jerking slightly as the spell connected. He suddenly felt very tired. Like he had drained the entirety of his magic at once. The silence that had followed was only short-lived. He noticed that the troll was slightly swaying back and forth before it got pushed forward after a large rock connected with its shoulder. It tilted slightly forward and then fell like a chopped down tree.

A loud scream came from the other side of the slumping troll.

Penny!

The adrenalin that had slowly subsided, his heart rate which had normalised and his magic which had been almost depleted roared up and went back to maximum.

Thump.

He could hear his heartbeat loudly pulsing thorough his body.

Thump.

Time slowed down again, his eyes shone brightly. Though this time, there was a different thought stream bellowing in his head. The green of his eyes shone in desperation, fear and determination, the grey in sadness and anger.

Thump.

He could see the ceiling slowly losing its integrity. The small earthquake that had occurred as the troll finally hit the ground seemed to have given the ceiling the rest.

Large parts of debris and rubble came loose and slid, before becoming unleashed and dropped down onto the corpse of the troll and, much to his own horror, where he had last seen Penny Haywood.

Thump.

'Think, you stupid idiot, think…' he yelled at himself in his head. Just like before, thinking of a plan at an hour per second.

Thump.

It clicked in his head. He had found the charm, but with his stated of exhaustion, it would cause him to faint.

He didn't care.

The Slowing charm would do the trick. He couldn't think of the possible outcomes. He just focused on the now and the spell.

Thump.

"_**ARRESTO MOMENTUM!**_"

Thump.

The debris came to a halt a few inches above the ground.

He could see Penny laying on the floor directly below a rather large part of the ceiling, a solid inch between her chest and certain death, but yet so calm and entirely unharmed. He somehow needed to get her from bellow the rubble, or the debris away from her, before he would undoubtedly faint from magical exhaustion and cause the ceiling to crash down onto the resting Hufflepuff.

"_**Depulso**_..." his hand twitched as he managed to whisper the incantation. A white blot shot from the tip of his wand and caused the rubble to fly down the hallway.

He could only hear a persistent beeping tone as he slowly tumbled towards Penny. His palms were sweaty, knees weak and his arms heavy. He could feel every muscle in his body pulsing and revolting. He fought for every meter towards Penny.

He had difficulty keeping his eyes open. His eyelids were extremely heavy, he had tunnel vision and heavy nausea.

He fought for every inch he crept towards her. He fought and he was loosing.

The strength leaving his body entirely, he toppled down and fell with his head first directly next to Penny on the cold hard floor. In his last moments before the blackout he somehow managed to smile, his last glance at the relaxed features of the young Hufflepuff witch directly next to him.

He managed to grab onto her hand, his eyes shut, clutching it in desperation.

Funny, he had thought today would have been a good day.

Then the blackness caught him and pulled him into its depths. His body finally winning the war against his mind.

* * *

There weren't many things that terrified the old headmaster. He had faced trolls, giants and even golems in the war against Grindelwald.

And as he had heard Quirinus scream about the troll in the dungeons he had kept his cool. Of course, it was unusual for a troll to appear out of nowhere. Especially when it appeared in the centre of one of Britain's most secure and heavily warded places.

He had grabbed Minerva and Filius as both of their houses would be able to get to their common rooms. Severus and Pomona had to stay with their houses in the great hall, as both Slytherin and Hufflepuff would need to get to the dungeons to enter their common rooms.

As he and the other two professors entered the dungeons they all froze. It wasn't the fact that the young witch, Miss Haywood if he remembered correctly, currently was dogging a rubber club that terrified the old wizard.

It was something else. He could feel it, a sense of foreboding that something terrible was about to happen.

The ancient headmaster heard a roar from behind the troll.

"_**Diffindo**_**!**"

A shock wave, a crunch, a snap and a gurgling could be heard. The troll, who had dismissed his useless rubber club stopped mid-movement, his pupils dilated and jerked his head ever so slightly.

A large rift was torn in the ceiling. Pebbles and debris dropping onto the floor and the now slightly swaying troll. A scream, another crunch and a loud bang echoed through the hallway and the rest of the dungeons. The troll slammed onto the floor before the young blonde witch and caused a small earthquake. Nothing groundbreaking, but enough to cause the ceiling to come loose and fall towards the fainting Hufflepuff girl.

The headmaster was about to stop the rubble with a simple spell, but someone else seemed to beat him to it.

He clearly could hear the slowing charm's incantation, swiftly followed by a bright white light from the other side of the debris witch caused the rubble to be launched towards the three teachers.

Both the former and the current Transfiguration professors quickly turned the debris into feathers, which halted and slowly fell to the ground.

The charms professor had erected a shield before the three professors, which caused the smaller rocks that survived the transfiguration process, which on impact turned the stolid debris into small grains of sand.

The hallway floor was covered with sand, dirt and feathers, a few rocks sprinkled in here and there, in short, a generally rather wonderful chaos, He was quite sure that if Nymphadora Tonks would be still at school, she would have sulked for days that she had missed this.

The dust that had been floating in the air nearly blinded the teachers, unable to see more than a solid two feet in each direction.

With a flick of the charms professors wand, the dust settled and exposed the hallways destruction together with the indescribable scene that was taking place before their eyes.

Dumbledore instantly recognized the student that had been standing behind the troll, so did the other two. Nicholas Bishop stood tall, clutching his wand in one hand, his forehead with the other. The twinkle in the headmaster's eyes vanished as he saw multiple wounds on the boy's body. He saw injuries from as minor as slight scratches to his noticeably broken leg. But above all else, he could see signs of magical exhaustion.

No wonder after the feat of magic he had just witnessed.

The headmaster paid no mind to the footsteps he could hear behind him. His eyes and mind only focused on the boy that stood above the maimed body of a fully grown mountain troll.

The voice of the potions professor suddenly resounded in his head, he hadn't noticed the man arrived with them.

"Headmaster, I've..." the man started but stopped at the state and contents of the dungeons hallway. Dumbledore ignored the man, not that he really heard what he had said anyways. He had been too focused on the boy who was now slowly stalking towards the Hufflepuff girl.

"Mr Bishop..." Minerva was the first to finally say something, though it was more like a whisper in a dead quiet room.

The student played no mind to the professors, he probably hadn't even noticed their presence. He slowly pushed himself further on, climbing over one of the outstretched arms of the troll and steeping into the pile of green blood on the floor which was still expanding, spilling from the gruesome wound on the back of its head and neck.

"Mr Bishop?" this time it was Flitwick who spoke. Still no reaction, he didn't seem to be in pain, though he was walking with a broken leg. At each and every step there was a slight snapping and crunching sound to be heard.

The grey eyes of the student completely unbothered, but housing a deep-rooted sadness.

His legs weren't steady, he seemed to be pushing on, even though he was clearly without strength. Nicholas finally stopped directly next to the young Penny Haywood. A loud clanking could be heard as his cedar wood wand fell to the ground.

Then his knee gave in and he slumped to the ground head first. He seemingly landed on his arm as a loud snapping could be heard together with the sound of his body hitting the floor.

"Nicholas!" the headmaster could only whisper weakly, a look of terror on the faces of the professors.

The boys head moved slightly to look at the young Haywood girl, a slight smile spread on his face, he weakly grabbed onto her limp hand as his eyes fell shut.

A sharp breeze brushed past the four professors as the boy lost his consciousness. Every single one of his muscle relaxed except for both the grip onto the girl's hand and the smile. A warm and so unconcerned smile, yet so without any form of emotion. It never vanished.

The headmaster was stunned, at a loss for words. The young wizard had demonstrated a great amount of willpower and an unseen skill of magic today. It was still very raw and uncontrolled. Emotionally guided. But the might behind the spell that maimed the mountain troll was remarkable.

The pure intent and desire of the boy to protect his friend had caused a spell so powerful it simply sliced through the magically resistant skin of the troll.

But that wasn't all. Both the slowing and banishing charms were not only third-year spells that a mere first year shouldn't even know, let alone be able to cast them. But the pure force and strength of the spells was the truly astonishing bit of the whole thing.

The headmaster himself knew that he and the trio of professors behind him would be capable of achieving a similar effect with these spells. Though they were all grown men and women, far beyond the age of magical maturity, quite the contrary to young Mr Bishop who was resting on the dirty dungeon floor.

"Minerva, would you be so kind and help Filius and a few elves with bringing the two students to the hospital wing? I would believe that they should be carried there. I'm not sure If magical transport has an effect on magical exhaustion." the headmaster added to his question, not taking his eyes from the students, who's robes were by now soaked in troll- and, in Nicholas case, their own blood, for a single second.

The two heads-of-house only nodded and summoned with the help of four house-elves two stretchers, on which the elves laid the two students before lifting them on and with the escort of the two house teachers carried them from the dungeons up to the hospital wing.

Dumbledore sighed loudly at the events of the evening. He would have to review the memory of this, later on, to completely understand what had transpired here. It also would help to gain multiple perspectives on it.

The headmaster slowly turned to the potions professor, his half-moon spectacles on the tip of his nose, not a slight twinkle in his eyes to be seen. "What can I do for you Severus?" the headmaster asked.  
Sadly, until the events of this evening, he had thought today had been a very good day. Now he had to bring the mutilated corpse of a troll out of a school.

A smile jerked at the corners of his lips, now that was a sentence you didn't hear every day.

* * *

_**This concludes this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, please do review especially since I am experimenting with the style of the story a bit. If you dislike or disagree with ceratin depictions of and within the story please do let me know.**_

_**I hope to see you all in the next chapter again.**_


	8. Unpleasant Awakenings

_**Chapter Eight**_

_Unpleasant Awakenings_

November 6th, 1991

The past five days weren't the most comfortable for Hamish, probably some of the worst in his memory. He was seated in the great hall, both Penny and Nicholas hadn't awoken yet, but the matron had assured him that they would probably wake either today or tomorrow.

Hermione, Iris and he had taken over control of the group, though none of the members or organisers seemed to be able to concentrate on their homework. To add to that, none of the three had even remotely the magical knowledge that either Nicholas or Penny possessed in either of their core subjects.

It was still a long seven days until their every-other-week spell-casting-session under supervision of Flitwick, so he hoped that until then both Nicholas and Penny would have returned to help them with their casting.

Hamish had helped where ever he could, assisting Iris with preparation for some DADA revision or Hermione with looking for fitting books for an astronomy session, essay or homework example.

It seemed as though they all tried to busy themselves with something. No-one had known what had happened to the two young Hufflepuffs until the day after Halloween at breakfast.

By then the Hogwarts rumour mill had already started working and some of the wildest theories, on what conspired in the dungeons between the two students and the troll which had been supposed to roam that area last they had been informed, had spread through the castle. This was no slight worry in the eyes of more than just a few Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors.

That was of course until the headmaster shed light on the situation, which had only left them with more questions then answers they had so desperately hoped for and caused even more speculation on what exactly had been happening between Nicholas and the mountain troll a few hundred yards off to them.

November 1st, 1991

The old headmaster made his way to the podium at the front of the hall. The twinkle in his eyes had been gone for a solid day now and the matron hadn't been able to shed any further light on the status of the two Hufflepuff first-years.

The physical wounds were either easily fixed or with the help of bone re-growing potions, Skele-Gro, slowly returning to old strength. But especially the feats of young Mr Bishop had left all of the teachers in attendance, who witnessed the rather spectacular fight between the student and the troll, with the lurking suspicion of magical exhaustion on both Nicholas and the Haywood girl, Penny.

"Good morning everyone." the headmaster spoke loudly, grabbing the attention of every last student in the hall. "I hope you all slept well, even though there had been a mountain troll roaming the school grounds until late this night." His gaze shifting to the Hufflepuff table, his eyes resting on the two empty spaces on the bench midst the first years.

"Most of you will be wondering what took place in the dungeons last evening and some of you will surely wonder why there is a large rift in the ceiling of the hallway near the Hufflepuff common room."

He now looked down on every single student in the hall. "As fate wanted, there were two students in the very same hallway and had to come face-to-face with a fully grown mountain troll."

A few gasps could be heard by the students. There was a shock silence in the hall, waiting for the headmaster to continue his explanation.

"Both Mr Bishop and Miss Haywood are alive and currently reside in the hospital wing." the old man continued "Without going into detail, about what happened between Mr Bishop and the troll, as well as the lengths he went through to protect young miss Haywood, I will say this. Both students showed great skill in magic, one no usual wizard or witch would be capable of performing at their age. But they also had immense luck to survive this encounter. For this and the quick thinking of our two students and their aptitude of skill and coolness in dangerous situations, I award Hufflepuff house one hundred and fifty points!" The headmaster announced.

A loud cheer erupted through the hall, the Hufflepuffs, while still somewhat dejected, were delighted at the news, both the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws showed compassion and celebrated with the badgers. The Slytherins polity clapped, though as usual, they weren't interested in out-of-house matters. Marlene had been the only snake that wore a brilliant smile.

November 6th, 1991

He had been staring blankly at his plate the entire dinner. He didn't feel like eating. He had to much on his mind to be really hungry, or at least notice it.

He had already lost pace with the charms and Transfiguration homework and the only reason he was capable to keep up with the DADA homework was Iris, who had helped him with the contents of his essays and other homework or gave him a kick up the arse if he needed motivation. He would have to bear the 'telling off' by Nicholas and Penny as soon as he was out of the hospital wing for slacking off so much.

He had to smirk at the thought, he could hear his friends voices in his head as if they were talking to him at this very moment, and though he knew that Nicholas was currently laying in a hospital bed, entirely unconscious and extremely peaceful, it still made the whole ordeal seem far less daunting. As a matter of fact, if he hadn't been assured by the matron and the headmaster that Nicholas was still breathing, he would have been sure his friend would have been killed three times over. The last time probably by Penny, who would again chide him for his lack of foresight and 'Gryffindorish behaviour' as he once, a few days ago, had heard Marlene call the last of Nicholas' exploits.

Hamish was pulled from his musings as he felt a heavy hand slapping him on his back. Cedric Diggory and Iris O'Connor stood behind him, both wearing bright smiles.

Ever since he had accepted to study with the blonde girl and her brown-haired friend, he had been officially accepted in one of the largest friend groups in the entire castle. Penny and Nicholas both had friends in every single house. In some more, like in Hufflepuff, in some only one or two, like in Slytherin. Though no matter in which house the people in that group were, they were all treated equally, usually with a great smile.

Marlene Finley was the prime example. She had been a cold-hearted bitch to everyone, ever since she had been sorted into Slytherin. But as it turned out, she was one of the most likeable people he had met so far. Of course, she was no Penny Haywood or Cedric Diggory, but she was a very nice and sometimes scarily perceptive girl.

He once asked the Liverpudlian girl why she acted so off when she wasn't with the group. She had looked at him as if he had asked the stupidest question know to men, before silently pointing to her badge, the silver serpent in green background.

_'I don't know about you, O'Kelly, but a Slytherin usually cares for their image in their house first before the rest of the world. Slytherins stand united against everyone, we can't be divided within our house as well.'_ It had almost sounded brutal, the coldness in her voice was unbearable, she had looked at him for a few seconds before she started to smile weakly. '_I have a reputation to uphold in my hose, Hamish. I wish I was a Hufflepuff or Gryffindor were I could behave like I want to. Only the weak show their true emotions in public, at least that's what they say in my house, and Slytherins aren't supposed to be weak._'

After that, he had started to view the Slytherins differently. The house was full of unbearable, narcissistic and sadistic bigots who care more about their blood than their personality. Or that is what most people believe. Public opinion had drastically dropped after Voldemort's demise. It was common knowledge that you-know-who had mainly recruited from the snakes. It was also no coincidence that his entire inner-circle was filled with former Slytherins.

They were the ones that did what had to be done. They chose to sacrifice their former life, in some cases the wizarding high-life like with the Malfoys, to follow someone with the believes and the charisma to gather those who felt threatened around him. And threatened animals tend to do things you usually wouldn't expect from them.

They put themselves in the line of fire, their children's futures at risk and their status in the hands of one singular maniac with a world domination fetish. They risked the future of the wizarding world for their beliefs and went all-in, as the Muggles would've called it, just to lose it all because of one bad, really, really bad hand.

Harry Potter.

If the Dark Lord would have been successful, if he hadn't failed at the hurdle that proved to be the-boy-who-lived, they would have been the victors to write, and rewrite, history to their liking. They would have been the great saviours of the wizarding world, who put the progressive thinking wizards and witches into their place, who saved the wizarding culture and its values.

They had simply gambled with high stakes and lost.

But Slytherins weren't bad. Marlene was the prime example. They just had to pretend to be cold-hearted bigots to survive in the tricky surroundings that was the snake pit, their common room. Of course, some were actually just that, cold, bigoted and idealists to the musings of a dead man, waiting for him to return to cleanse the world of the Mudbloods and Blood-traitors.

But some, or even most of them, weren't so blatantly obvious about their beliefs as Malfoy. Some were dangerous but didn't show it.

Theodore Nott for example. He was the hire to one of the Dark Lords most faithful followers' families. It was a safe bet that Theo would follow in his father's footsteps should, for the likely possibility that the Dark Lord wasn't dead, he be given the choice. Not that it really was a choice for anyone in his position, so he hadn't been raised to ask questions and to believe what father told him.

Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass were both more difficult to place at either camp. Neither seemed to enjoy either the company of Malfoy nor his constant whiny screams for attention and warped views on wizarding society.

But they seemed to keep their options open. They went grey, stayed neutral and waited to see which side would benefit them more in the long run and then showed support if they were sure that it would improve their chances of survival. This was, as Marlene had called it, a perfect showing of Slytherin cunning and intelligence.

Then, of course, there was one last type of Slytherin. Harry James Potter. He had to be the most unique Slytherin in his house. He was silent and closed off. He spend a great deal of time with the Malfoys over the summer and was usually walking the halls with the Malfoy heir at his side. Though no one was really sure how their dynamic really worked, even Marlene had no clue and she saw them every day. It was almost like Malfoy and Potter respected each other enough, to see themselves at a similar social standing.

Strangely enough, Hamish had never heard him speak. Neither was he sure if he shared the views of Draco or if he was more similar to Blaise and Daphne or Marlene.

Potter showed a great deal of skill in DADA, Transfiguration and Flying lessons. The latter two weren't unusual. His father had shown great skill in Transfiguration as well, it was said that he would have made his mastery in said subject if the war hadn't started, and he had been a seeker for the Gryffindor house team, proving that he had to be at least somewhat usable on his broom.

The former one also wasn't really a surprise. Not many people managed to slay a Dark Lord at the age of one. Naturally, they would be decent at a subject involving said slaying, even though no-one knows what really happened that night at Godrics Hollow.

Cedric, the one who had pulled him from his musings before and had been smiling brightly at him, was now pointing with his thumb towards the entrance. "Guess who just woke up!" the grin never leaving him, looking at Hamish expectantly. He was about to answer when an exited Iris quickly spoke up "Penny! Let's go see her!" and was already taking off, pulling both boys towards the big entrance doors.

Hamish only sighed, but couldn't help but smile, he relaxed noticeably at the news. A very small part of him had doubted that either of them would ever wake up again. It felt like a heavy load had been taken from him and now he could finally breathe freely again. Just then he noticed how hungry he actually had been and gave his plate a last longing look before he was pulled around the corner and up the grand staircase towards the hospital wing.

* * *

Penny Haywood was finally awake. She felt terrible. Her head hurt and it felt like every single muscle in her body had been punctured with quite a nasty stinging-hex.

Strange, the last thing she could remember was fighting a troll in the dungeons. Well, fighting was a strong word for basically shooting of a few sparks and minor spells at the two dozen feet tall mountain troll.

Then it hit her. The last thing she actually could remember was the ceiling falling down towards her after the troll had been finished off by some form of extreme severing charm.

But even more strange was the fact that this part of the dungeon floor seemed to be rather soft and comfortable as well as the bits and pieces of the ceiling, which at this point should have crushed her into a pile of human remains, consisting largely of bones and blood, felt much rather like a soft cover then anything. Not that she was capable to see anything at all at this very moment in time. Had she gone blind? Why couldn't she open her eyes? Usually, this would have set anyone into, at least, a minor panic, if not a full-scale panic attack. But she strangely didn't feel any panic, fear or even anger rising up within her.

No, more like the contrary actually.

The more she thought of her current condition, the calmer she got. Maybe she was in heaven? After all, it would explain why was feeling no major pain, no rocks or debris, why she was resting so comfortable or why it was so silent and calm. It also wouldn't surprise her if she had died. After all, not many people survived a ceiling crashing down on them. But still, there was the intense dizziness and nausea she felt combined with the tugging pain in her muscles.

Then, out of nowhere, a bright light shone directly into her eyes, together with the sounds of the world finally reaching her.

There was a lot to take in at once. So Penny was neither blind or deaf nor was she dead. She tried to look around but her body failed her, only able to move her eyes ever so slightly.

The first thing she noticed was a very distinctive and stern voice coming from a woman who she had learned to respect the last time she was here. The hospital wings matron, Madam Pomfrey, a woman even the headmaster didn't dare to argue with.

Penny once had the pleasure to see Nicholas squirm under the matrons watchful eye after his infamous flying lesson incident back at the beginning of the first-year.

She had spent quite a lot of time here while he had been incapacitated. She used to bring him his homework and finished it together with him. Both Professors Flitwick and McGonagall had refused to give Nicholas any homework during his stay at the hospital wing after he was not only more than gifted and beyond the level of any usual or even usual first-year in both Charms and Transfiguration.

That didn't hinder Penny from pestering Nicholas for help with both subjects homework while he was physically unable to get away from her, due to him being bound to his bed.

'_Has anyone ever told you that you are completely useless as Charms Haywood?_' She would have smiled at the memory if she could, but after all, she currently was unable to move '_Oh there have been one or two who had mentioned that if I remember correctly Bishop, luckily I have you to annoy for answers._' '_For now, but I will have my revenge! Just wait until you are in my position. We will have a lot of potions homework to go through, I will make sure of that._'

These were one of the rare moments in which Nicholas decided not to put up his second face. She and Iris as well as Hamish and Cedric were so far the only ones that had seen his true and genuine self, unmasked and open, with all the smiles and laughs this status entailed.

There was a warm sensation running through her body, together with a bright golden glow that emitted from somewhere out of her field of view. Abruptly the feeling ended as quick as it came and she could move again.

"Now, Ms Haywood, I hope you won't make any rash and inconvenient movements or decide to fight another troll within the boundaries of my Infirmary." the stern voice of the matron echoed through the room.

Penny slowly got up and started to look around. She wasn't able to look onto most beds, as there were curtains and room splitters put up to hinder the wandering eye from landing on any of the hospital beds occupants or give the people some sense of privacy.

"I've taken the liberty to feed you some calming draught and dreamless sleep potion, to help you and your recovery." the matron now spoke a little softer "You had quite the misfortune and luck at the same time. Without Mr Bishop you would likely be nothing more than-" she stopped and sighed "-well let's not go there, but you had quite a few sever injuries, even a nasty head injury that could have caused you to lose your eyesight and hearing if you hadn't been brought in as soon as you were." madam Pomfrey didn't look to happy with her diagnosis, but she non-the-less seemed pleased with the recovery of the young girl. Penny who had yet to say anything just stared at the woman in subtle shock. It most likely was the calming draught that had kept her from having an immediate and strong reaction to what the healer had just revealed to her, but it was enough to stun her into a shocked silence.

"Now to more pleasant things, -" the medi-witch continued "- first of all, you are nearly completely recovered and are going to get out of here unscathed. Secondly, there have been a few people checking on you two while you we-" the matron couldn't finish the sentence as Penny immediately interrupted her. "'You two'? What do you mean 'you two'?!" Penny exclaimed loudly, the effects of the calming draught had completely failed her this time and vanished in their entirety, she glared at the matron waiting for her to explain who the other person was, though Penny could make a very good guess at who the other person was that had been getting shared visitors with her.

"Well, Mr Bishop is currently resting just one bed to your left." the witch explained calmly, pointing with the tip of her wand towards the room splitter right next to her bed.

Penny, of course, hadn't known that Nicholas also had been brought into the hospital wing, due to her having spent the last few… however long she had spent in this godforsaken hospital wing, in a near dead sleep. It was of course not that surprising that he was here as well, nothing short of the entire ceiling collapsed onto them after all.

Without even hesitating for a second, Penny jumped up and launched herself of the bed towards the bed of her best friend. Madam Pomfrey, who of course had expected a similar reaction, simply pulled the witch back with her wand and forced the blonde to stay in her bed, threatening her to use a full-body bind curse again.

Penny had just glared at the Matron with fierce blue eyes, one would see a wild angry fire spreading behind those pupils, but said nothing, simply ignoring the matron and laying back on her bed. She also chose not to acknowledge that the medi-witch ordered her to stay in bed for the rest for the week, preferably until Friday of next week, before she left the blonde to sulk alone.

* * *

The sun had long since touched the horizon and was well on her way to finally tuck herself in for the night and let the moon take over its dutiful job to watch over the hills and meadows in her absence.

It had been a few hours since Penny had been freed from the spells that had kept her locked in place, blinded and deafened to ensure a secure, unhindered and restful sleep.

She hadn't ever heard of similar treatment for a similar case of injury, she wasn't stupid she suspected that there had been something wrong with her in a far greater sense than just a few scratches and wounds.

The matron had come back an hour after she had first awoken and brought her another vial of calming draught together with the promise of allowing her to see Nicholas once he would be awake as well as in a good enough mood and state of mind to accept visitors.

This had slightly relaxed Penny and caused her to be more cooperative with the medi-witch, seeing that she really had no other choice than to wait.

She had rested the entire day, she had to have been woken at around noon, and understandably was reasonably bored. It was then when the matron came to her and announced a group of three Hufflepuffs wanting to see her, as they somehow had gotten wind of her being awake.

Of course, Penny had jovially accepted her visitors, gleefully anticipating the arrival of said pupils. She would have done anything to have someone to talk to, one more thing to look forward to once Nicholas finally awoke, as he undoubtedly would share her bedside with her for as long as they were forced to remain in the hospital wing.

The flying wine-red hair of her best female friend Iris was the first thing she saw. Iris shot across the room and had thrown herself onto Penny's bed with a wide smile and resounding giggles. The second Iris had landed on her bed, Penny was pulled into a vice-like embrace by the Irish woman, showering her sight in a solid wall of red hair and pale skin.

The lively redhead had usually always been the most physical of the group. Penny had to stifle a chuckle at the thought of Nicholas next encounter with the Irish girl as soon as he would wake.

Both Cedric and Hamish, who had accompanied Iris to the hospital wing, were now standing at the foot end of the bed, watching the unfolding scene before them with great mirth, which was reflected in their eyes.

"Penny I was so worried! What happened? Dumbledore said you and Nicholas fought a troll! Are you okay? Where is Nicholas? Have you slept till now? Are you hungry? Should I go down to the kitchen and grab you something? Maybe something to drink? Oh, and..." Iris asked, sprouting questions like a waterfall, leaving Penny no time to answer any of them. "Merlin's beard O'Connor, leave Penny some space to breath and slow down a notch or two, she has just woken up from a five-day coma." Cedric stopped the energetic Irish girl who only flashed him a vicious glare.

"Exactly, -" Hamish quickly came to the aid of the third-year Hufflepuff, who seemingly shrunk under the intense stare of the Irish girl. "-we should be glad that we're even allowed in here, Madam Pomfrey usually forbids any visitors until three days after." Iris just shook her head and turned back to Penny with quite a noticeable hint of concern in her gaze.

"Now, back to the questions, I want some answers!"

November 8th, 1991

The raindrops that were loudly smashing against the windows gently pulled the resting Hufflepuff first-year from his comatose sleep.

Nicholas gently opened his eyes, his gaze noticeably clouded, he tried to push himself onto his elbows to scan the room in which he had been resting in.

At the foot end of his bed, he could spot a large selection of candies and cards from well-wishers and friends. He realized he must've been sleeping in the hospital wing, judging by the attire and type of bed he was laying in.

A gently, in the current of air dancing, candlelight was the only light source he could spot. On each side of his bed, a solid three feet away, were curtains, which served as room splitters to sever the connection between the beds' occupants and the rest of the room.

He suddenly was able to recall the last thing he remembered before he had woken up on this mattress. He remembered what had happened in the dungeons at Halloween, he remembered fighting a troll, a mountain troll and a huge one at that, and he remembered… he remembered winning? Yes had had somehow managed to maim the troll enough to render it useless.

An amused expression crept over his features, a noticeable shimmer in is eyes and a slight smile on his lips. Then, as quick as they had appeared they vanished again.

He remembered something else, or rather someone else.

_Penny!_

Penny had been down there with him.

A genuine sense of panic and cold fear spread through his chest and rendered his ability to breath useless. He felt a cold shock at the realisation, trying to compose himself, and failing completely.

He had no clue what had happened to the blonde girl who had been laying right next to him in the dungeons. The dungeons of which the ceiling had been collapsing when he lost his consciousness.

He had no clue if she was alright or even if she had survived the encounter with the mountain troll. Maybe the ceiling had continued to fall after he had passed out and a spare piece of debris had pierced the young girls' skull or chest, killing her simply after he had been unable to save her.

He felt like his chest was in a tight vice, pressing the air out of his lungs and refusing to let any new in.

A cold sense of dread washed over him, an inexplicable amount of sadness at the thoughts of the young girl being gone.

The worst part about these thoughts was if they turned out to be reality, the realisation that he had never been able to show his appreciation for the girl in a respectable amount.

Guilt.

He had met her friends and family, he had heard her stories and secrets and she had introduced him to her world, hindering him from slipping into the social segregation he had been part of in his days before Hogwarts.

But worst of all was the thought that, if this all turned out to be if fate had shoved a knife in his chest and turned the hilt and if she really was dead, he was still alive.

_Guilt!_

A singular tear escaped his eyes, rolling down his left cheek down to his chin. He silently sniffed.

The ever-persistent patter of the raindrops was suddenly interrupted by the sound of parchments being shuffled. It was then when Nicholas noticed a slight shimmer of light emitting through the left curtain.

Without a second thought, Nicholas shot up in his bed and basically threw the bedspread and comforter onto the ground. He had thought he was alone in the hospital wing, he hadn't seen the second light source from the bed next to him.

His bare feet had barely touched the ground, as his legs already nearly gave in.

He guessed he had been sleeping here for a few days, the fact that his bones and muscles protested so vehemently against this sudden burst of movement was only a testament to his thesis. He heard himself groan slightly and frowned at the state of his body.

He decided to pay no mind to his current physical condition and started to make his way around the curtain to identify the other bed's occupant.

The first thing he was able to spot was the gold-blonde braids of the hospitalised student. There was a book in the way of his gaze, so he wasn't able to spot the persons face, but the hair in connection with the rather unique wand that was currently resting on the night table was a dead giveaway.

"Penny..." Nicholas whispered, a gigantic wave of relieve washed over him as the girl looked over the book, her sparkling blue eyes connecting with his. With a singular look, a simple glance into each other's eyes, all the irrational fear and pressure left him.

Their gazes connected and he could feel surprise and joy.

_Delight!_

Before he had even realised, he was on her bed and had pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.


End file.
